LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 

Presented  by 

TheW(c\oW  of  Greort^e.UiAo'cAn^^  ^<^ 


BV  4315  .S65  1894  c.l 
Stall,  Sylvanus,  1847-1915. 
Five  minute  object  sermons 
to  children 


r:^^ 


Five  Minute      .^^^^^ 


Object  Sermons  to  Children 


PREACHED  BEFORE  THE  MAIN  SERMON 
ON  SUNDAY  MORNING. 


Through  Eye-Gate  and  Ear-Gate 

INTO  THE 

City  of  Child-Soul. 


BY  SYLVANUS'^STALL,  D.  D., 

Author  of  Methods  of  Church  Work,  How  to  Pay  Church  Debts,  Min- 
isters' Hand-Book  to  Lutheran  Hymns,  Pastor's  Pocket  Record, 
etc.     Associate  Editor  of  the  Lutheran  Observer. 


Feed  my  Lambs."— JOHN  21 :  15. 


[Printed  in  the  United  States.] 

NEW  YORK: 
FUNK  &  WAGNALLS  COMPANY. 

LONDON    AND    TORONTO. 
18Q4. 


Copyright,  1893, 

BY 

SYLVANUS  STALL. 


DEDICATED  TO 

THE  THOUSANDS  OF  YOUNG  PEOPLE  IN  THE  SUNDAY 

SCHOOLS  WHO  SHOULD  BECOME  REGULAR 

ATTENDANTS  UPON  THE   SUNDAY 

MORNING    SERVICE   OF 

THE  CHURCH. 


Contents. 


Page. 

1.  Traps — Unsuspecting-  Mice  and  Men, 17 

2.  Money — Its  Value  and  Its  Uses, 21 

3.  Counterfeits — Coins  and  Christians,  Real  and  Imi- 

tation,         28 

4.  Banks — Gathered  and  Guarded  Treasures,   ....      34 

5.  Oyster  and  Crab— Conscience, 39 

6.  Worm  in  the  Apple — Sin  in  the  Human  Heart,  ,    .      44 

7.  Passport — Citizens  of  an  Heavenly  Country,    ...      50 

8.  Chart — Avoiding  Dangers,      54 

9.  Anchor — Hope  that  Lays  Hold  of  Christ, 59 

la  Iron,  Low  Grade  and  High   Grade — Character 

and  Worth, 63 

11.  A  Pocket  Rule — How  God  Measures  Men,       .    .      70 

12.  Seeds — Thoughts,  Words,  Deeds, — their  Life  and  Per- 

petuity,            76 

13.  Sowing — The  Spring  Time  of  Life, 82 

14.  Sheaf  of  Grain — The  Harvest  Time  of  Life,      ,      87 

15.  Wheat  and  Chaff — The  Coming  Separation,    .    .      93 

16.  Wayside  Weeds   and   Garden    Flowers  —  Neg- 

lected vs.  Christian  Children, 99 

17.  Flowers — God's  Wisdom  Displayed  in  their  Creation,  104 

18.  Flowers— They  Display  God's  Goodness  to  Man,    .     108 

19.  The   Heart — The   Most  Wonderful    Pump   in   the 

World, 113 

20.  The  Eye— The  Most  Valuable  and  Most  Wonderful 

Telescope,    .....  ...  119 

21.  The  Eye— Smallest  Camera,  Most  Valuable  Pictures,  127 

22.  Coal  and  Wood — Jesus  the  Source  of  Spiritual  Light 

and  Warmth, 134 

(5) 


6  CONTENTS. 

Page. 

23.  Lanterns — The  Best  Light  for  Our  Path, 139 

24.  Candles — Christian  People,  their  Relative  Influence,  143 

25.  Candles — How  to  Reflect,  Obscure  or  Extinguish  the 

Light, 149 

26.  Water — Jesus,  and  Earth's  Moral  Deserts,    ....  155 

27.  Bread — Universal  Soul  Hunger, 159 

28.  The  Stone — The  Natural  and  Changed  Heart,  .    .    .  164 

29.  The  Polished  Stone — Perfection  Through  Suffering,  169 

30.  A  Broken  Chain — Breaking  the  Whole  Law,  ...  175 

31.  Looking-Glass — Seeing  Ourselves  in  God's  Law,    .  180 

32.  The  Wordless  Book — Sin,  Salvation,  Purity,  Glory,  184 

33.  Whiskey — The  Character  and  Efi"ects  of  Alcohol,    ,  189 

34.  The  Magnet — Jesus  the  Great  Drawing  Power,    ,    .  196 

35.  Scarlet  Rags— Sins  of  Deepest  Dye,        203 

36.  Ropes — Habits  and  How  they  Become  Strong,  .    .    .  207 

37.  Watch  and  Case — Soul  and  Body, 212 

38.  Keys — How  to  Unlock  the  Human  Heart, 217 

39.  Husks — The  Disappointed  Pleasure  Seeker,  ....  223 

40.  Pearls— One  of  Great  Price, 230 

41.  Frogs — The  Plagues  of  Egypt, 235 

42.  Blood — The  Feast  of  the  Passover, 242 

43.  Pine  Branch — The  Feast  of  Tabernacles,    ....  248 


Preface. 


These  brief  sermons  grew  out  of  the  necessi- 
ties found  in  the  author's  own  parish.  While 
yet  a  student  of  theology  we  found  that  very 
few  of  the  great  body  of  young  people  regularly 
attended  the  services  of  the  Church ;  parents 
might  be  found  regularly  in  their  places,  but  the 
children  of  the  household  were  seldom,  and 
some  of  them  were  never  seen  in  the  family 
pew.  It  was  to  correct  these  evils  that  these 
sermons  were  prepared  and  at  first  preached  at 
irregular  intervals. 

When  called,  in  1 888,  to  the  pastorate  of  the 
Second  English  Lutheran  Church,  of  Baltimore, 
we  found  a  depleted  congregation,  while  at  the 
same  time  the  Sunday-school  was  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  flourishing  in  the  city.  It  was 
then  for  the  first  time  that  we  introduced  regu- 
larly the  preaching  of  Five-Minute  Object  Ser- 
mons before  the  accustomed  sermon  on  Sunday 
morning.  In  a  very  brief  period,  about  one- 
fourth  of  the  infant  department  and  two-thirds 
of  the  main  department  of  the  school  were  in 
regular  attendance  upon  the  Sunday  morning 
service,  and,  even  after  this  particular  form  of 
address  had  been  discontinued,  the  teachers  and 
scholars  continued  regularly  to  come  direct  from 
the  morning  session  of  the  school  to  the  services 
of  the  church. 

(7) 


8  PREFACE. 

These  sermons  were  preached  without  notes, 
were  subsequently  outlined  and  then  spoken  into 
the  phonograph,  put  in  manuscript  by  a  phonog- 
rapher,  and,  that  the  simplicity  of  style  and  dic- 
tion might  be  preserved,  were  printed  with  only 
slight  verbal  changes. 

The  objects  used  in  illustrating  these  sermons 
have  been  chosen  from  among  the  ordinary 
things  of  every-day  life.  To  us  it  seemed  that 
such  objects  have  the  advantage  of  being  easily 
secured,  and  on  account  of  their  familiarity  also 
prove  more  impressive,  and  being  more  often 
seen,  more  frequently  recall  to  the  minds  of 
those  in  the  audience  the  truths  taught  in  the 
sermon. 

To  any  thoughtful  student  who  has  marked 
the  simple  language  and  beautiful  illustrations 
used  by  that  Great  Preacher  and  Teacher  who 
"  spake  as  never  man  spake,"  it  will  be  unneces- 
sary to  say  a  single  word  in  justification  of  this 
method  of  presenting  abstruse  truths  to  the  easy 
comprehension  of  the  young.  Upon  all  occa- 
sions Jesus  found  in  the  use  of  the  ordinary, 
every-day  things  about  Him,  the  easy  means  of 
teaching  the  people  the  great  truths  of  divine 
import.  The  door,  the  water,  the  net,  the  vine, 
the  flowers  which  sprang  at  His  feet,  the  birds 
that  flew  over  His  head,  the  unfruitful  tree  that 
grew  by  the  wayside,  the  wheat  and  the  tares 
that  grew  together  in  the  field,  the  leaven  which 
a  woman  hid  in  three  measures  of  meal,  the  hus- 
bandman pacing  his  field  engaged  in  sowing  his 
grain,   the  sheep   and   the   goats   which  rested 


PREFACE.  9 

together  on  the  slopes  waiting  to  be  separated 
each  into  their  own  fold,  the  old  garment  mended 
with  a  piece  of  new  cloth,  the  mustard  seed,  the 
salt — anything  that  chanced  to  be  about  the 
Master  was  used  as  an  illustration,  that  He 
might  plainly  and  impressively  teach  the  people 
the  saving  truths  of  redemption  and  salvation. 
May  we  not  also  reasonably  suppose  that  if  Jesus 
were  upon  the  earth  to-day  He  would  still  exer- 
cise this  same  distinguishing  wisdom  in  the  use 
of  the  common,  every-day  things  by  which  He 
would  now  find  Himself  surrounded? 

That  the  pulpit  of  to-day  is  rapidly  drifting 
away  from  that  plain,  simple  and  easily-com- 
prehended presentation  of  the  saving  truths 
of  the  Gospel,  must  be  manifest  to  the  most 
casual  observer.  In  every  age  the  tendencies  of 
the  pulpit  have  been  steadily  upward  to  the  level 
of  the  most  cultured  and  the  most  scholarly. 
The  natural  aspirations  of  the  pulpit  continue 
unconsciously  to  lift  it  above  the  children  and 
the  great  masses  of  people.  The  words  which 
are  chosen  to  express  our  thought  in  the  pul- 
pit usually  differ  largely  from  those  which  we 
use  in  our  daily  conversation,  the  language  of 
the  pulpit  becomes  unintentionally  different  from 
that  in  common  use  in  every-day  life,  until  finally 
we  cease  to  speak  in  the  language  best  under- 
stood by  all  the  people.  In  so  far  as  we  cease  to 
use  the  language  of  every-day  life,  we  lose  our 
grip  upon  the  great  masses  of  people  and  upon 
the  children  as  well.  Every  revival  in  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  from  the  time  of  Christ  to  the  pres- 


lO  PREFACE. 

ent,  has  owed  its  success  to  the  fact  that  it  began 
not  with  the  most  refined,  or  the  most  influential, 
or  with  those  of  greatest  intellectual  culture,  but 
with  the  common  people ;  and  in  so  far  as  the 
Church  fails  to  reach  the  common  people  and  the 
rising  generation  of  children,  it  is  shorn  of  its 
greatest  power  and  its  greatest  efficiency. 

The  absence  of  the  children  from  the  services 
of  the  sanctuary  is  one  of  the  alarming  evils  of 
our  day.  There  are  but  few  congregations  where 
children  can  be  found  in  any  considerable  num- 
bers. No  one  will  attempt  to  deny  the  sad  con- 
sequences which  must  follow  as  the  inevitable 
results  of  such  a  course.  The  children  at  eight 
years  of  age  who  have  not  already  begun  to 
form  the  habit  of  church  attendance,  andare  not 
quite  thoroughly  established  in  it  at  sixteen,  will 
stand  a  very  fair  chance  of  spending  their  entire 
life  with  little  or  no  attachment  for  either  the 
Church  or  religious  things.  The  non-church 
going  youth  of  this  decade  will  be  the  Sabbath- 
breakers  and  irreligious  people  of  the  next. 

Who  are  to  blame  for  this  state  of  affairs,  and 
to  whom  are  we  to  look  for  the  correction  of  this 
existing  evil? 

Manifestly,  first  of  all,  to  the  parents.  That 
parental  authority  which  overcomes  the  indiffer- 
ence of  the  child  and  secures  his  devotion  to  the 
irksome  duties  of  secular  life,  should  also  be  ex- 
ercised to  establish  and  maintain  a  similar  fidelity 
to  religious  duties  and  spiritual  concerns.  If  left 
to  their  own  inclinations,  children  will  invariably 
go  wrong  in  the  affairs  of  both  worlds.     Attend- 


PREFACE.  II 

ance  upon  the  church  should  be  expected  and 

required,  the  same  as  attendance  upon  the  se- 
cular instruction  of  the  schools;  for  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  child  are  not  more  dependent  upon 
the  discipline  of  the  mind  than  upon  the  develop- 
ment of  the  heart.  In  the  formation  of  the  habit 
of  church  attendance  it  would  be  well  to  remind 
parents  that  example  will  be  as  helpful  as  pre- 
cept. They  should  not  send  but  take  their  chil- 
dren to  church.  They  should  make  room  for 
them  in  the  family  pew,  provide  them  with  a 
hymn-book  and  see  that  they  have  something 
for  the  collection.  Parents  owe  it  to  their  chil- 
dren to  teach  them  to  be  reverent  in  God's  house, 
to  bow  their  heads  in  prayer,  to  be  attentive  to 
the  sermon;  and  while  requiring  these  things  of 
their  children,  they  should  also  see  well  to  it  that 
after  service,  at  the  table,  in  the  home,  or  else- 
where nothing  disparaging  of  God's  house, 
message  or  messenger  should  fall  from  their  lips 
upon  the  ears  of  their  children. 

The  teachers  and  Sunday-school  superintend- 
ents are  not  without  responsibility  in  this  matter. 
In  any  community  where  the  Sunday-school  is 
regarded  as  the  "  children's  church,"  the  super- 
intendent with  his  corps  of  teachers  can  do  much 
to  correct  this  dangerous  error.  We  would  say 
nothing  against  the  Sunday-school,  for  it  is  one 
of  the  most  potent  agencies  for  good ;  but  it 
can  not  safely  be  substituted  for  the  services 
of  God's  house,  nor  can  the  lesson  take  the 
place  of  the  sermon.  The  proper  province  of 
the  Sunday-school  is  to  lead  its  attendants  to  the 


12  PREFACE. 

Church,  and  not  to  detract  them  from  the  ordi- 
nances of  God's  house.  The  teacher  and  the 
superintendent  can  help  to  correct  this  erroneous 
impression  by  announcing  the  services  and  invit- 
ing the  scholars  to  attend  the  church.  One  of 
the  features  of  the  school  should  be  to  question 
the  scholars  concerning  the  sermon,  keep  a 
record  of  church  attendance,  encourage  the 
pastor  to  preach  to  the  children,  and  arrange  for 
special  services  for  the  young,  and  seek  to  se- 
cure in  the  scholars  an  increased  interest  in  the 
church. 

Perhaps,  however,  the  blame  rests  more  with  us 
as  pastors  than  with  any  one  else.  We  seek  too 
much  for  thoughts  which  are  beyond  the  grasp 
of  the  great  majority  in  our  congregations,  and 
when  we  attempt  to  preach  upon  these  subjects 
we  forget  that  it  is  our  special  business  to  make 
all  these  difficult  subjects  plain  and  intelligible  to 
the  humblest  person  and  the  youngest  child  in  the 
audience — and  if  we  are  not  willing  diligently  to 
seek  this  result,  then  we  have  no  right  to  take 
these  subjects  into  the  pulpit.  Perhaps  the 
trouble  too  frequently  is  that  the  thought  is  not 
clearly  defined  in  our  own  minds  and  consequently 
can  not  be  understood  by  the  audience.  It  is 
however  a  fact  that  most  of  the  truth  contained 
in  the  Bible  can  be  so  voiced  and  illustrated  as 
to  engage  the  attention  and  enlist  the  sympathy 
of  both  old  and  young,  and  most  of  what  is  best 
for  either  is  equally  good  and  profitable  for  both. 
What  the  child  wants  in  the  preacher  and  the 
sermon  is  plain,  short,  easy  words,  vivid  illustra- 


PREFACE.  1 3 

tions — not  far-fetched,  but  such  as  associate 
themselves  naturally  with  the  subject. 

Whatever  our  past  failures  and  present  short- 
comings, we  should  seek  prayerfully  and  studi- 
ously to  acquire  the  talent  which  will  enable  us 
to  touch  the  heart,  quicken  the  imagination  and 
instruct  the  minds  of  the  children.  If  we  can 
preach  so  that  the  children  can  understand  and 
be  benefited,  we  may  rest  assured  that  we  shall 
not  fail  with  the  older  people. 

In  order  to  reach  the  children  we  should 
preach  so  that  they  can  understand,  we  should 
make  mention  of  them  in  prayer,  select  hymns 
in  which  they  can  join,  refer  to  them  in  the  ser- 
mon, urge  parents  to  bring  their  children  with 
them  to  the  church,  shake  hands  with  them  after 
the  benediction,  and  the  pews  in  our  churches 
will  not  long  be  destitute  of  children. 

We  need,  in  the  very  beginning  of  our  en- 
deavor to  preach  to  children,  to  dispossess  our 
minds  of  the  thought  that  the  older  people  will 
not  be  interested  in  the  five-minute  sermon  to 
the  juniors.  The  fact  is  that  the  talk  to  the 
children  will  always  be  enjoyed  by  the  con- 
gregation, and  frequently  the  five  minutes  de- 
voted to  the  juniors  will  be  more  helpful  to  the 
seniors  than  the  thirty  minutes  of  subsequent 
discourse. 

Many  public  speakers  and  Sunday-school 
superintendents  greatly  injure  the  efficiency  of 
their  labors  among  the  young  by  addressing 
them  as  **  children."  Those  in  the  infant  depart- 
ment may  be  addressed  as  children,  but  if  we 


14  PREFACE. 

wish  to  graduate  the  boys  and  girls  of  twelve 
and  fourteen  from  the  intermediate  department 
of  the  school,  or  repel  them  from  attendance 
upon  the  services  of  the  Church,  we  need  simply 
to  address  them  as  "children."  Nothing  so 
stings  and  pains  the  pride  of  a  growing  boy  or 
girl,  as,  in  his  or  her  estimation,  to  be  belittled 
by  being  called  a  child.  We  may  address  them  as 
scholars,  boys  and  girls,  little  men  and  women, 
or  even  young  men  and  young  women,  but  un- 
less we  are  willing  to  part  with  our  influence  over 
them  for  good,  for  the  simple  satisfaction  of 
wounding  their  childish  and  quite  natural  pride, 
we  should  never  address  them  as  children, 
neither  in  the  Sunday-school  nor  in  the  church. 
We  have  used  the  term  children  in  the  title  of 
this  little  volume  because  as  a  book  it  is  designed 
for  pastors  and  parents,  but  as  a  term  of  address 
the  word  "children"  does  not  appear  in  any  of 
these  sermons. 

In  the  use  of  object  sermons  it  is  not  usually 
wise  to  attempt  to  pass  immediately,  without  a 
break,  from  the  children's  talk  into  the  main  ser- 
mon. A  hymn  will  allow  the  audience  a  mo- 
ment for  thought  and  reflection,  and  enable  the 
speaker  to  bring  his  mind  into  sympathy  with 
the  different  train  of  thought  to  be  presented  to 
the  older  people. 

When  found  desirable,  two  or  more  related 
object  sermons  can  be  profitably  united  in  a  half 
hour's  discourse  to  grown  people.  In  preaching 
in  prisons  and  other  similar  places  we  have  found 
this  a  very  effective  way  of  presenting  the  truth. 


PREFACE.  15 

Those  children  whose  parents  attend  should 
sit  in  the  family  pew,  while  the  smaller  children 
who  are  unattended  should  be  seated  in  front 
and  at  the  side  of  the  pulpit.  By  this  method 
they  will  not  disturb  adult  persons  in  the  audi- 
ence, they  will  be  under  the  Immediate  super- 
vision of  the  pastor,  and  the  seats  which  are 
more  usually  preferred  will  be  available  for  the 
remainder  of  the  congregation.  If  any  of  the 
juveniles  are  inclined  to  be  restless  or  disturb 
the  speaker  or  others  in  the  audience,  one  or 
more  older  persons  can  always  be  found  who  will 
be  wiUing  to  act  as  monitors,  and  thus  preserve 
perfect  order  through  the  entire  service. 

In  these  different  chapters  we  have  sought  that 
variety  which  is  necessary  to  maintain  a  contin- 
ued interest  in  the  minds  of  young  persons. 
Without  being  desultory,  we  have  sought  variety, 
and  while  desiring  to  avoid  all  that  might  seem 
sensational,  we  have  sought  for  that  which  was 
new  and  impressive.  We  have  preferred  health- 
ful variety,  rather  than  startling  innovations.  Our 
aim  has  been  to  be  child-like,  but  not  childish. 
Our  experience  has  convinced  us  that  children 
are  quick  to  grasp  an  idea,  and  while  naturally  of 
restless  mental  temper,  they  are  yet  quick  to  ap- 
preciate thought  that  is  clear,  orderly  and  logical. 

While  this  volume  is  doubtless  the  first  of  its 
kind  in  illustrating  and  impressing  the  truth  upon 
the  child  mind,  yet  we  desire  to  acknowledge  our 
indebtedness  to  the  many  authors  in  the  large 
field  of  literature  from  whom  we  have  gleaned 
many  wise  suggestions  and  helpful  illustrations. 


l6  PREFACE. 

Praying  that  God  may  bless  this  humble  vol- 
ume in  the  hands  of  the  many  pastors  who  are 
seeking  to  bridge  the  great  chasm  which  now 
separates  so  many  children  in  the  home  and 
the  Sunday-school  from  regular  attendance  upon 
the  services  of  the  Church,  it  is  now  sent  forth 
upon  its  important  mission. 

Sylvanus  Stall. 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  April  2^th,  i8g^. 


Five  Minute 
Object  Sermons  to  Children. 


TRAPS. 

UNSUSPECTING    MICE   AND    MEN. 

My  dear  young  friends  :  You  may  think  that 
possibly  there  was  a  time  when  wicked  men  did 
not  desire  to  destroy  others,  as  is  so  often  the 
case  in  this  day;  but  hundreds  of  years  ago,  God 
said,  "Among  my  people  are  found  wicked  men: 
they  lay  wait,  as  he  that  setteth  snares ;  they  set 
a  trap,  they  catch  men."     (  Jeremiah,  v  :  26.) 

I  suppose  you  have  all  seen  traps.  There  are 
a  great  many  different  kinds.  Some  are  very 
dangerous,  and  yet  you  cannot  see  the  danger 
until  you  are  caught,  or  until  you  see  some  other 
person  who  has  been  caught  in  the  trap.  Now 
here  is  a  trap.  I  suppose  that  you  have  all  seen 
such  traps  as  this,  and  possibly  have  them  in 
your  own  homes,  to  catch  the  little  mice  which 
destroy  your  food,  and  oftentimes  do  great  injur}^ 


Object  used :  An  ordinary  mouse  trap. 
17 


1 8  '      OBJECT  SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

Now,  this  trap  does  not  look  dangerous  to  the 
unsuspecting  mouse.  The  little  wire,  which  is  to 
be  drawn  up  by  a  strong  spring  to  choke  the 
mouse  to  death,  is  concealed,  and  he  does  not 
know  that  there  is  a  wire  there  at  all.  He 
simply  smells  the  piece  of  cheese.  This  tempts 
his  appetite,  and,  as  he  is  fond  of  cheese,  he  de- 
sires to  obtain  it,  and  so  he  attempts  to  crawl  in 
through  this  small  hole  to  get  the  cheese,  but 
the  moment  he  nibbles  at  the  cheese,  it  disturbs 
the  little  catch  which  holds  the  spring,  and  when 
it  is  too  late  to  escape,  the  little  mouse  finds  that 
he  has  been  caught.  Then  he  does  not  think  of 
the  cheese,  but  struggles  to  get  loose  and  escape 
out  of  the  trap.  But  all  of  his  struggles  are  in 
vain,  and  after  a  few  moments  he  is  choked  to 
death.  Then  the  man,  or  the  housewife  comes, 
takes  the  little  mouse  out  of  the  trap,  and  with 
the  same  piece  of  cheese  the  trap  is  again  set 
for  another  unsuspecting  mouse.  So  people  go 
on,  day  after  day,  catching  one  mouse  after 
another,  with  the  same  trap  and  with  the  same 
bait. 

Now,  there  are  traps  which  men  set  for  boys 
and  girls,  and  men  and  women.  Such  as  story 
papers,  bad  books  and  pictures,  that  might  be 
called  pest  papers,  printed  poison,  moral  leprosy. 
To  the  innocent,  the  unthinking  and  the  unsus* 


UNSUSPECTING    MICE   AND    MEN.  10 

pecting  these  things  may  not  appear  very  dan- 
gerous, but  they  are  very  deadly  in  their  effects, 
and  they  result  in  the  temporal  and  eternal  ruin  of 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  people  every  year. 

Then  there  are  also  the  saloons,  with  gilded 
signs,  frosted  windows,  and  showy  looking  glasses. 
Rooms  which  are  made  attractive  only  to  catch 
men,  to  rob  them  of  their  money,  and  of  their 
self-control,  and  of  their  reason,  and  of  their 
homes,  and  of  all  temporal  good,  and  of  all  hope 
of  heaven — destroying  men's  soul  and  body, 
both  for  a  time  and  for  all  eternity. 

Then  there  is  the  theatre,  with  its  glittering 
lights,  with  its  tinseled  show,  with  its  corrupting 
play,  with  its  scenes  upon  which  no  pure-minded 
man  or  woman  can  look  without  blushing.  Scenes 
which  deaden  the  moral  sense,  pollute  the  mind. 
Such  as  are  calculated  to  rob  the  individual  of 
virtue,  and  of  integrity,  and  of  faith  in  God,  and 
of  hope  of  heaven. 

Then  there  are  other  dangerous  traps  which  are 
set  for  young  men  and  for  older  men — tobacco, 
and  cigars,  and  beer.  These  traps  which  are  set 
for  our  money,  which  so  often  rob  of  health  and 
strength,  for  no  boy  who  uses  tobacco  in  any 
form  can  be  strong  like  the  boy  who  does  not  use 
tobacco.  Boys  begin  with  the  deadly  cigarette, 
and  then  go  on  to  the  cigar,  and  then  follow  with 


20  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

drinking  beer,  and  so,  step  by  step,  they  go  on 
down  to  ruin. 

Those  boys  who  have  gone  fishing  on  a  calm, 
beautiful  summer  day,  and  have  looked  down 
through  the  water,  have  often  seen  the  fish  as 
they  gathered  around  the  hook,  and  then  watched 
them  as  they  nibbled  at  the  bait.  First  they 
come  up  very  shyly,  and  barely  touch  the  bait 
with  their  nose.  Then  they  come  again,  and 
possibly  just  bite  a  small  trifle — barely  taste  of  it. 
Then,  again  and  again  they  nibble  at  the  hook, 
until  finally  they  undertake  to  get  a  large  bite, 
when  they  discover  that  they  have  swallowed 
the  hook.  Then  it  matters  not  how  much  they 
flounder  about,  and  struggle  to  get  away,  it  is 
too  late,  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  escape. 
They  are  pulled  into  the  boat  or  upon  the  bank, 
and  a  few  hours  later  are  on  the  stove,  being 
cooked  for  some  hungry  fisherman.  Just  so 
Satan  comes  to  those  whom  he  wishes  to  catch. 
He  comes  with  money,  and  with  pleasure,  and 
with  the  thought  of  having  a  good  time.  He 
tempts  people  by  presenting  to  their  thought 
something  which  they  desire  He  leads  them 
on  step  by  step,  and  when  they  see  others 
all  about  them  who  are  being  destroyed  in  the 
effort  to  obtain  the  same  pleasure  which  they  are 
seeking,  Satan  makes  them  think  that  in  their 
individual  case  the  result  will  be  very  different. 


UNSUSPECTING    MICE   AND   MEN.  21 

You  will  notice  that  this  mouse  trap  has  four 
different  places  where  mice  can  be  caught,  and 
is  it  not  strange  that  when  one  mouse  enters  on 
this  side,  and  is  caught,  and  is  lying  there  dead, 
that  another  live  mouse  should  come  along,  and 
see  the  same  trap  and  desire  the  same  thing,  and 
walk  right  in  to  the  same  danger,  and  the  same 
sure  death  ?  You  would  think  that  when  he 
saw  that  the  other  mouse  had  been  caught,  and 
had  lost  his  life,  that  he  would  turn  away.  But 
instead  of  that,  he  smells  the  cheese,  walks  right 
into  the  trap,  and  is  caught,  and  in  a  few  moments 
is  as  dead  as  his  neighbor.  So  boys  see  others 
who  have  been  ruined  by  smoking  cigarettes, 
who  have  paved  the  way  for  their  destruction  by 
smoking  cigars,  by  keeping  bad  company,  by 
drinking  beer,  and  going  on  step  by  step.  They 
see  drunkards  all  about  them  who  have  squan- 
dered all  their  money  and  lost  all  their  friends, 
and  been  forsaken  by  their  own  parents,  their 
wives,  and  their  children;  who  have  become  out- 
casts, and  for  whom  no  one  longer  has  any 
respect.  Men  see  these  things  daily,  and  yet 
they  go  on  in  the  same  way,  beginning  with  beer 
and  going,  step  by  step,  from  social  drinking, 
until  they  themselves  become  drunkards  and 
outcasts,  and  go  down  to  fill  a  drunkard's  grave. 
The  Bible  says  that  no  drunkard  can  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  heaven. 


22  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

I  trust  that  none  of  those  who  listen  to  me 
this  morning  will  be  so  foolish  as  to  permit  Satan 
to  deceive  them.  Look  about  you  and  see  the 
results  of  worthless  story-papers,  of  card-play- 
ing, of  theatre  going,  of  social  drinking,  of  round 
dancing,  lying,  swearing,  cheating,  and  all  forms 
of  wickedness,  and  then  remember  that  these 
same  influences,  if  wrought  into  your  life,  will 
also  produce  the  same  result.  Do  not  be  like 
the  foolish  mouse,  which  sees  its  dead  companion 
in  the  trap,  and  then  walks  up  unthinkingly  and 
pokes  his  head  into  the  same  inevitable  death 
and  destruction  ;  but  remember  that  Satan  waits 
to  destroy  you,  just  the  same  as  he  has  destroyed 
others. 

In  the  book  of  Job  (xviii :  lo)  it  says,  "  The 
snare  is  laid  for  him  in  the  ground  and  a  trap 
for  him  in  the  way ;  "  and  in  the  8th  verse  of  the 
same  book  and  chapter  it  says,  *'  He  is  cast  into 
a  net  by  his  own  feet,  and  he  walketh  upon  a 
snare."  Satan  has  laid  traps  and  snares  all  along 
your  path  through  life,  and  you  will  need  to  be 
very,  very  cautious,  lest  you  are  ruined  for  time 
and  destroyed  for  eternity.  Remember  the  text 
for  this  morning,  which  says,  "Among  my  people 
are  found  wicked  men ;  they  wait,  as  he  that  set- 
teth  snares  ;  they  set  a  trap,  they  catch  men." 


MONEY. 

ITS  VALUE  AND  ITS  USES. 

My  little  men  and  women  :  I  am  sure  you 
can  tell  what  it  is  that  I  have  in  my  hands,  when 
you  hear  me  shake  it.  Yes,  you  all  say  money, 
and  so  it  is.  Here  is  a  penny,  a  five-cent  piece, 
a  ten-cent  piece,  and  a  few  quarter  dollars,  a  half 
dollar,  a  silver  dollar  and  a  five-dollar  gold  piece. 

This  is  the  kind  of  money  we  use  in  the  United 
States.  But  over  in  the  country  where  Christ 
lived  and  taught,  very  poor  people  used  the  mite, 
which  was  a  Roman  piece  of  money.  You 
remember  having  read  in  the  Bible  about  the 
poor  woman  who  cast  two  mites  into  the  treas- 
ury? Here  is  a  little  piece  of  money  from  Italy; 
it  is  a  centicimo.  These  small  pieces  of  money 
are  the  kind  they  now  use  in  the  city  of  Rome. 
Here  is  one  of  the  widow's  mites.  It  would  take 
ten  of  these  mites  to  be  worth  one  cent  of  our 
money.  So  the  poor  woman  who  cast  two 
mites  into  the  treasury,  cast  in  one-fifth  of  a  cent. 


Objects  used :    Cent,  five-cent  piece,  silver  pieces  and  a  gold 
piece. 

23 


24  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

But  you  must  remember  that  that  was  all  she 
had.  She  had  nothing  else,  even  with  which  to 
buy  bread.  The  Scripture  says  that  she  had  cast 
in  "  all  her  living."  Then  beside  mites  In  the 
country  in  which  Jesus  lived,  they  had  the 
Roman  farthing  and  penny,  and  the  Jewish 
shekel  and  talent,  which  was  of  gold. 

Money  is  a  good  thing  in  enabling  us  very 
simply  to  buy  and  sell,  such  articles  as  we  desire 
either  to  possess  or  to  dispose  of.  It  would  be 
next  to  impossible  for  us  to  get  along  without  the 
aid  of  money  in  buying  and  selling.  But  do  you 
know  that  the  best  things  in  this  world  cannot 
be  bought  with  money.  You  cannot  buy  air, 
or  sunshine,  or  rain,  or  health  or  salvation. 
These  things  are  worth  more  than  money,  and 
money  is  not  sufficient  with  which  to  purchase 
them,  so  God  gives  them  to  us.  The  Bible  does 
not  offer  salvation  in  return  for  money;  but  the 
invitation  is,  "  Whosoever  will,  let  him  come." 
The  Bible  declares  that  God  so  loved  the  world 
that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that  who- 
soever believeth  in  Him  might  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life. 

It  is  not  wise  for  anybody  to  despise  or  under- 
estimate the  value  of  money.  As  a  matter  of  ac- 
tual fact,  when  parents  are  uncertain  whether  their 
children  have  good   sense,  or  whether  they  are 


MONEY,    ITS   VALUE   AND   USES.  2$ 

idiots,  and  take  them  to  a  skilled  physician,  if  the 
physician  finds  that  the  child  does  not  realize  the 
value  of  money,  and  does  not  have  the  spirit  ol 
devotion — does  not  like  to  receive  a  penny,  and 
does  not  clasp  his  hands  and  close  his  eyes,  or  in 
some  other  way  assume  the  attitude  of  prayer, 
when  other  people  kneel  down  to  pray  to  God — 
these  two  things  are  regarded  as  sufficient  evi- 
dence that  the  child  lacks  the  intelligence  of  an 
ordinary  human  being,  and  is  pronounced  an  idiot. 

I  am  sure  that  every  boy  and  girl  here  knows 
the  value  of  money,  and  I  hope  that  you  all  bow 
your  heads  when  others  pray. 

I  told  you  that  money  is  a  good  thing,  and  that 
it  is  important  in  business ;  but  sometimes  you 
will  hear  people  say,  that  "  money  is  the  root  of 
all  evil."  Now  the  Bible  does  not  say  that;  the 
Bible  says  that  "  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of 
all  evil."  Money  is  a  good  thing,  but  when  you 
love  it  so  that  you  will  sacrifice  moral  principle, 
and  do  things  which  are  wrong  in  order  to  secure 
money,  then  you  manifest  that  undue  love  for  it 
which  makes  a  miser,  and  which  is  the  root  of  all 
evil.  I  should  be  very  sorry  indeed  to  think  that 
any  boy  or  girl  here,  or  anyone  in  our  Sunday- 
school  or  church,  should  be  a  miser.  In  order 
that  you  may  have  the  right  spirit  in  regard 
to  money,  it  is  important  that  you  should  learn 


26  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

while  you  are  young,  to  give  for  the  support  of 
the  Church,  to  send  the  Bible  to  the  heathen,  to 
support  the  missionaries,  to  help  the  poor,  and  to 
do  every  kind  of  good  work.  You  should  learn 
to  give  very  frequently  and  to  give  liberally. 

You  should  remember  also  that  the  money 
which  you  call  your  own  is  not  yours;  it  belongs 
to  God.  You  are  only  a  steward.  God  permits 
you  to  have  this  money,  just  the  same  as  the 
lord  in  the  parable  entrusted  it  into  the  hands 
of  his  servants ;  to  one  he  gave  five  talents,  to 
another  two  talents,  and  to  another  one  talent. 
These  talents,  as  I  told  you,  had  a  money  value  ; 
it  was  money,  therefore,  that  was  entrusted  into 
their  hands.  So  also  God  entrusts  money  into  our 
hands.  The  steward  who  had  received  one  talent 
was  entrusted  with  a  little  more  than  ^1,700.00, 
and  when  the  lord  of  these  servants  returned  he 
required  that  they  should  give  an  account  of  their 
stewardship — that  they  should  tell  what  they  had 
done  with  their  money,  how  they  had  invested 
it,  and  what  gain  they  had  secured.  Now,  when 
you  and  I  come  to  render  up  our  final  account 
before  God,  it  will  be  necessary  that  we  should 
tell  not  only  what  we  have  said,  and  what  we 
have  done  on  the  earth ;  but  that  we  shall  have 
to  give  an  account  of  every  penny  and  every 
dollar  that  we  have  ever  possessed. 


MONEY,   ITS  VALUE  AND   USES.  2/ 

If  this  money  belongs  to  God,  and  we  have  to 
give  account  for  our  use  of  it,  what  we  have  done 
with  it,  you  see  how  important  it  is  that  we 
should  give  at  least  one-tenth  of  all  our  income 
to  help  to  support  the  Church  and  to  carry  for- 
ward every  Christian  work ;  and  then  that  we 
should  remember  that  the  other  nine-tenths  also 
belong  to  the  Lord.  If  you  use  your  money  to 
go  the  circus,  or  to  the  theatre,  or  use  an  unrea- 
sonable amount  for  fine  clothing,  or  extravagance 
of  any  kind,  you  should  remember  that  you  will 
have  at  last  to  render  an  account  to  God  for  the 
use  you  have  made  of  this  money,  which  belongs 
to  Him,  and  not  to  you  at  all. 

It  is  very  important  that  we  should  come  to 
recognize  our  true  relation  to  God  upon  this 
money  question  while  we  are  young,  lest  the  love 
of  money  should  fasten  upon  us,  and  we  should 
become  dishonest  in  our  deahngs  with  men;  and 
by  failing  to  give  in  order  to  help  to  support  the 
Church  and  every  worthy  charity,  we  should  also 
be  dishonest  with  God,  by  withholding  any  por- 
tion of  the  one-tenth  which  belongs  always  to 
the  Lord.  I  trust  you  will  so  use  your  pennies 
and  larger  sums  of  money,  that  when  the  Day  of 
Judgment  comes,  you  will  be  able  to  give  an  ac- 
count that  will  not  bring  regret  to  your  heart. 


COUNTERFEITS. 

COINS  AND  CHRISTIANS,  REAL  AND  IMITATION. 

Little  Disciples:  I  am  sure  I  can  call  all 
these,  my  young  friends,  little  disciples.  When 
Jesus  was  upon  the  earth  He  had  twelve  chosen 
disciples.  The  word  disciple  means  a  learner. 
You  are  disciples  of  Christ,  because  you  come  to 
Sunday-school  and  to  church,  to  learn  of  Christ, 
and  to  learn  to  be  His  obedient  followers. 

Last  Sunday  I  talked  to  you  about  money. 
To-day  I  want  to  talk  to  you  about  counterfeits. 
Now,  here  I  have  a  bill  which  you  would  call  a 
five-dollar  bill,  and  here  are  some  pieces  which 
you  would  call  money.  Here  is  a  quarter  dollar, 
and  a  half  dollar,  and  here  is  a  whole  dollar.  I 
suppose  possibly  when  most  of  you  look  at  these 
pieces  and  this  bill,  you  would  suppose  they 
were  money.  But  they  are  not  money  at  all; 
they  are  what  are  called  counterfeits.  The  paper 
money  which  we  have  in  this  country  is  made 
by  the  United   States   Government.     This  was 


Object  used :  Some  counterfeit  money. 
2S 


CHRISTIANS,  REAL  AND   IMITATION.  29 

made  by  some  individual  who  was  trying  to 
cheat  the  people,  by  making  something  which 
simply  looked  like  the  money  made  by  the 
Government.  These  pieces  which  look  like 
silver  are  made  of  lead  and  other  metals  which 
cost  but  very  little,  have  not  much  value,  and 
consequently  these  pieces  are  mere  deceptions. 
We  call  them  counterfeits. 

Now,  a  counterfeit  looks  like  the  genuine,  like 
the  real  money.  They  oftentimes  pass  for  real 
money  among  people  who  cannot  tell  the  differ- 
ence between  good  and  bad  money.  But  these 
are  not  genuine,  and  they  are  not  money  at  all. 
They  are  mere  disceptions.  We  call  them 
counterfeits. 

Now,  if  there  was  no  genuine  money,  there 
would  be  no  counterfeit  money.  If  there  was 
no  real,  there  could  be  no  imitation.  If  there 
was  no  substance,  there  could  be  no  shadow. 

But  there  are  counterfeits  in  religion,  as  well 
as  in  money.  There  are  people  who  pretend  to 
be  good  and  to  be  Christians,  but  they  are  not 
Christians;  they  only  make  believe.  They  are 
counterfeits.  If  Christianity  were  not  a  good 
thing,  and  did  not  have  real  merit,  it  would  not 
be  imitated.  It  is  because  real  Christians  are 
good  people  that  hypocrites  try  to  imitate  them, 
to  look  like  them,  to  act  like  them,  and  to  be 


30  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

thought  to  be  Christians.  Sometimes  they  even 
join  the  Church,  and  keep  up  their  hypocrisy  in 
the  Church.  Boys  and  girls,  in  Hke  manner, 
sometimes  try  to  deceive  their  teachers  in  school. 
They  are  really  counterfeiting.  They  are  not 
good  boys  or  good  girls,  but  they  try  to  seem  to 
be  good  when  the  teacher  is  looking  at  them. 
When  the  teacher  turns  his  or  her  back,  then  they 
are  disobedient,  and  break  the  rules  of  the  school, 
make  the  other  scholars  laugh,  or  are  themselves 
idle  and  indifferent.  They  are  not  good  boys 
and  girls,  but  try  to  make  the  teacher  believe 
they  are  good.  You  have  seen  such  counterfeits 
in  the  school,  I  am  sure,  and  perhaps  you  were 
quicker  to  tell  that  the  boy  and  the  girl  was  dis- 
honest than  even  the  teacher  himself. 

Now  the  bank  does  not  issue  counterfeit 
money.  The  bank  only  issues  good  money.  Dis- 
honest men  issue  counterfeit  money.  Jesus 
Christ  makes  good,  honest  Christians ;  but  it  is 
the  world,  and  the  wickedness,  and  the  devil  who 
make  hypocrites  of  people.  The  teacher  tries  to 
make  the  boys  and  girls,  good  boys  and  good 
girls.  But  the  wicked  boy  makes  of  himself  a 
mere  imitation  of  a  good  boy.  You  will  see 
then  that  the  banker  is  not  to  blame  because 
there  is  counterfeit  money  in  circulation.  The 
Church  of  Christ  is  not  to  blame  because  there 


CHRISTIANS,   REAL  AND   IMITATION.  3 1 

are  hypocrites  in  the  world,  neither  is  the  teacher 
to  blame  because  there  are  deceptive  boys  and 
deceptive  girls  in  the  school.  When  Jesus  was 
upon  the  earth,  He  said  there  would  be  wolves 
in  sheep's  clothing.  He  warned  His  disciples 
against  hypocrites  and  deceivers.  It  is  Satan 
who  makes  the  hypocrites  or  deceivers,  and  we 
should  not  blame  the  Church  or  Christ  because 
they  do  exist. 

If  you  take  a  counterfeit  bill  or  a  counterfeit 
piece  of  money  to  the  banker,  the  moment  he 
sees  it  he  will  tell  you  it  is  a  counterfeit.  He  can 
tell  the  good  money  from  the  bad  money  very 
quickly.  In  the  Bank  of  England,  over  in  Lon- 
don, they  have  a  machine  through  which  the  gold 
pieces,  which  they  call  gold  sovereigns,  and  other 
pieces  of  gold  money,  pass  to  be  weighed,  and 
just  as  soon  as  a  single  piece  of  coin  is  less  than 
its  full  weight,  or  a  counterfeit  is  placed  upon  the 
scales,  immediately  the  machine  drops  it  at  one 
side,  as  a  rejected  piece  of  money.  At  the 
.  Treasury  Department,  in  Washington,  there  are 
persons  who  count  money,  who  can  shut  their 
eyes,  and  the  moment  their  fingers  touch  a  piece 
of  counterfeit  money,  they  can  tell  that  it  is 
counterfeit.  Hypocrites  may  be  able  to  deceive 
people  in  this  world,  although  they  generally  fail 
even  in  doing  that,  for  others  come  to  recognize 


32  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

them  as  hypocrites,  and  nobody  respects  them. 
But  even  if  they  could  deceive  everybody  in  this 
world,  when  at  last  Jesus  comes  to  make  up  His 
jewels  and  to  separate  His  followers  from  those 
who  are  the  wicked  followers  of  Satan,  He  will 
have  no  trouble  whatever.  He  knows  his  people 
just  the  same  as  a  shepherd  knows  his  sheep,  and 
as  a  shepherd  would  separate  the  goats  from  the 
sheep,  so  readily  will  Jesus  separate  His  people 
from  the  wicked  people  of  the  world. 

Just  as  that  machine  in  the  Bank  of  England 
weighs  the  coin,  so  in  one  sense  God  weighs  all 
people.  You  remember  how  it  was  in  Babylon, 
the  night  that  the  wicked  king  Belshazzar  defied 
and  profaned  God  at  the  great  feast  which  he  had 
made  for  his  generals  and  the  great  men  of  his 
kingdom.  The  finger  of  a  man's  hand,  or  what 
seemed  to  be  a  man's  hand,  came  out  of  what 
looked  like  a  cloud,  and  on  the  side  of  the  wall, 
in  the  hall  in  which  they  were  having  their  great 
feast,  it  wrote,  "  Thou  art  weighed  in  the  balance, 
and  art  found  wanting."  Belshazzar  was  trying 
to  make  the  great  people  of  his  realm  think  that 
he  was  a  great  and  a  good  man.  That  he  could 
resist  the  will  and  purposes  of  God.  But  God 
weighed  him  in  the  balance,  and  He  wrote  the 
result  on  the  wall,  so  that  all  his  generals  and 
the  people  whose  esteem  he  desired   to  have, 


CHRISTIANS,   REAL  AND   IMITATION.  33 

might  read  that  God  had  weighed  Belshazzar  in 
the  balance  and  had  found  him  wanting. 

Let  us  always  remember  that  we  cannot 
deceive  God,  and  even  though  we  should  suc- 
ceed in  deceiving  our  parents,  or  other  boys  and 
girls,  or  every  individual  upon  the  earth,  yet  at 
the  last  God  will  weigh  us  in  the  balance,  and  if 
we  have  been  wicked.  He  will  write  it,  or  pro- 
claim it  upon  the  Day  of  Judgment  to  all  the 
assembled  universe.  In  all  that  you  do  or  say, 
remember  that  God  looks  in  upon  your  hearts, 
and  knows  whether  you  are  an  honest  boy  or 
girl,  or  whether  you  are  simply  trying  to  deceive. 
"  Blessed  is  the  man  unto  whom  the  Lord 
imputed  not  iniquity,  and  in  whose  spirit  there 
is  no  guile." 


BANKS. 

GATHERED  AND  GUARDED  TREASURES. 

My  DEAR  YOUNG  FRIENDS  I  What  is  this  I  hold 
in  my  hand?  (Voices:  "Bank,  penny  bank, 
money  bank.")  Yes,  you  are  right,  this  is  a  bank, 
and  I  suppose  many  of  you,  perhaps  all  of  you, 
either  now,  or  at  some  past  time  have  had  such 
a  place  to  deposit  your  money. 

In  the  time  of  Christ  the  children  did  not  have 
little  banks  like  these.  Even  the  big  people  did 
not  have  banks  where  they  could  deposit  their 
money.  When  they  had  jewels  or  money  they 
had  no  banks  in  which  to  deposit  them,  and 
therefore  they  would  place  them  in  a  box,  or  a 
copper  kettle,  and  bury  them  in  the  earth. 
They  would  hide  them  away  from  other  people, 
and  thus  seek  to  secure  them  for  themselves. 
In  that  period  of  the  world,  there  were  many 
thieves  and  robbers;  Palestine  was  often  invaded 
by  hostile  armies;  there  were  occasional  earth- 
quakes, which  destroyed  whole  cities,  and  so  the 


Object  used :  A  child's  penny  bank. 
34 


GATHERED   AND   GUARDED  TREASURES.         35 

people  used  to  bury  their  money  for  safe  keep- 
ing. After  burying  it,  sometimes  they  were 
killed  in  war,  or  perhaps  died  suddenly,  before 
they  had  told  anybody  where  they  had  concealed 
their  money,  and  on  this  account  all  over  that 
land  there  were  buried  treasures,  or  hid  treasures 
as  they  are  called,  and  to-day  if  you  were  to  go 
to  Palestine  you  would  see  many  people  digging 
everywhere  to  find  money  or  treasures  that  have 
been  hidden  away  for  long  centuries.  Even  in 
the  time  of  Job  people  must  have  dug  for 
treasures,  as  they  are  doing  in  Palestine  to-day, 
for  Job  says  of  the  miserable  and  unhappy, 
that  they  often  "long  for  death,  and  dig  for  it, 
more  than  for  hid  treasures."     (Job,  iii:  21.) 

It  is  altogether  right  for  you  to  economize  and 
save  your  pennies.  I  hope  every  boy  and  girl 
will  have  a  little  bank,  but  while  you  are  learn- 
ing to  save,  you  should  also  learn  to  give  to 
every  good  cause,  to  give  in  Sunday-school  and 
to  give  for  the  support  of  the  Church,  and  to  give 
to  assist  the  aged  and  the  poor,  and  to  contribute 
something  for  those  who  are  in  poverty  and  in 
distress.  If  you  simply  learn  to  save,  or  hoard 
up  money,  and  do  not  learn  at  the  same  time  to 
give,  you  will  become  what  people  call  a  miser, 
and  that  word  means  miserable.  Misers  are 
always   miserable,  not    because    they    do    not 


36  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

already  have  sufficient,  but  because  there  is  so 
much  more  that  they  desire. 

But  while  you  are  learning  to  save  money  and 
to  gather  treasures  here  upon  the  earth,  you  must 
not  forget  that  the  Bible  says,  that  we  are  to  lay 
up  for  ourselves  "treasures  in  heaven,  where 
moth  and  rust  do  not  corrupt,  and  where  thieves 
do  not  break  through  nor  steal."  It  says,  "Seek 
ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteous- 
ness, and  all  these  shall  be  added  unto  you." 
God  means  that  first  of  all  you  and  I  shall  give 
our  hearts  to  Him,  and  then  afterward,  in  all  our 
getting,  we  should  constantly  remember  that  we 
are  only  stewards  of  God — that  is,  that  all  the 
money  and  everything  else  we  possess  in  this 
world  belongs  to  God.  He  simply  permits  us  to 
have  it  and  to  use  it  in  His  name,  and  we  must 
honor  and  reverence  Him  by  giving  to  help  on 
every  good  work. 

Now,  after  we  have  given  our  hearts  to  God, 
and  have  become  followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  we  are  to  lay  up  our  treasures  in  heaven 
by  doing  good,  by  seeking  to  be  good,  and  to  do 
good  to  others.  We  are  to  lose  no  opportunity 
to  do  that  which  will  be  a  blessing  to  those 
about  us. 

One  of  the  boys  or  girls  said  this  was  a  penny 
bank.     That  name  is  very  suggestive.     A  bank  is 


GATHERED  AND  GUARDED  TREASURES.    yj 

a  place  where  you  deposit  money.  Now,  if  you 
have  a  bank  hke  this  at  home,  do  you  only  put  in- 
to it  silver  dollars,  five-dollar  bills,  ten-dollar  gold 
pieces?  If  each  of  the  boys  who  are  here  this 
morning  were  to  wait  until  they  had  a  ten-dollar 
gold  piece,  or  a  five-dollar  bill,  or  had  come  into 
possession  of  a  silver  dollar  before  they  placed 
any  money  in  their  bank,  I  am  sure  their  banks 
would  always  remain  empty.  The  way  to  fill  a 
bank  is  to  put  pennies  in  it — to  save  each 
penny  and  each  five-cent  piece.  To-day  a  penny, 
and  to-morrow  a  few  pennies,  and  so  on  through 
the  week,  and  through  the  year,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  year  you  will  find  that  you  have  saved  quite 
a  large  amount  of  money. 

Now,  there  are  some  people  who  want  to  lay 
up  treasures  in  heaven,  but  they  do  not  want  to 
lay  it  up  there,  little  by  little.  They  prefer  to 
wait  until  some  opportunity  comes  when  they 
can  do  a  great  deal  of  good  at  one  time.  But 
the  person  who  does  not  do  good  every  day 
and  every  hour,  little  by  little,  will  never  have 
any  treasure  in  heaven.  It  is  the  pennies  that 
make  the  dollars;  it  is  the  many  mites  that 
make  the  muckle.  It  is  the  constant  doing  of 
little  things,  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of 
others,  that  makes  a  man  great.  Great  men  are 
great  in  little  things,  and  if  you  desire  to  be  great 


38  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

men  and  great  women,  you  must  always  use 
the  little  opportunities,  and  use  them  well.  Lay 
up  treasure  in  heaven,  each  and  every  day,  just 
the  same  as,  day  after  day,  you  would  save  your 
pennies,  and  thus  fill  your  banks.  If  you  want 
a  large  treasure  in  heaven  you  must  constantly 
be  engaged  in  laying  up  your  treasure  there. 
JNever  lose  an  opportunity  to  do  good,  and  in 
this  way  you  will  have  an  abundant  treasure  in 
heaven. 


THE  OYSTER  AND  THE  CRAB. 

CONSCIENCE. 

My  young  friends  :  I  want  to  speak  to  you 
this  morning  about  "  Having  a  good  conscience." 
(i  Peter,  3:  16).  This  is  rather  a  hard  subject, 
but  I  desire  to  make  it  plain  by  the  use  of  a  fa- 
miliar object.  "What's  this  I  have  in  my  hand?" 
I  rather  expected  that  you  would  say  an  oyster; 
but,  really,  it  is  nothing  but  an  oyster  shell.  I  sup- 
pose you  have  all  eaten  stewed  oysters,  or  oyster 
broth.  I  remember,  when  a  little  boy,  that  one 
day  when  we  had  stewed  oysters  for  supper,  I 
found  a  little  yellow  something  in  my  broth.  I 
did  not  know  whether  my  mother  had  put  it  in 
purposely,  or  whether  it  had  fallen  in  by  acci- 
dent; whether  I  should  push  it  aside  of  my  plate, 
that  it  might  be  thrown  with  the  crumbs  to  the 
chickens,  or  whether  I  should  eat  it  to  discover 
what  it  was. 

I  suppose  you  have  all  seen  these  little  animals 
in  your  soup,  and  know  that  they  are  called  crabs. 


Object  used :  Oyster  shells. 

39 


40  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

Now,  do  you  know  how  the  crab  comes  to  be 
in  with  the  oyster?  I  will  tell  you  how  it  is. 
The  oyster  lives  in  the  water  at  the  bottom  of 
the  bay,  and  some  bright  day,  when  the  sun  is 
shining  down  genial  and  warm,  just  the  same  as 
in  the  summer,  we  open  the  doors,  and  sit  out 
on  the  porch  to  enjoy  the  cool  of  the  day;  so  the 
oyster  opens  his  shells  and  lets  the  cool  currents 
of  water  move  gently  through  his  house.  But 
while  lying  there  with  his  shells  wide  open,  along 
comes  a  great  hungry  fish.  He  sees  the  oyster, 
but  the  oyster  cannot  see  him.  The  oyster  can- 
not see,  for  he  has  no  eyes.  He  cannot  hear,  for 
he  has  no  ears.  Of  the  five  senses  which  each 
of  us  have,  hearing,  seeing,  smelling,  tasting  and 
feehng,  the  oyster  can  only  tell  of  the  presence 
of  his  enemy  when  he  feels  himself  being  drag- 
ged out  of  his  house,  and  being  quickly  swallowed 
by  the  fish.  But  his  knowledge  of  what  is  hap- 
pening only  comes  when  it  is  already  too  late. 

Now,  with  the  httle  crab,  who  also  lives  in  the 
same  neighborhood  with  the  oyster,  it  is  quite 
different.  The  crab  has  eyes,  and  can  see  the 
hungry  fish  that  comes  to  eat  him  up.  He  has 
legs,  with  which  to  try  and  run  away ;  but  the 
fish  can  swim  so  much  faster  than  the  little  crab 
can  run,  that  he  is  sure  to  be  devoured  before  the 
race  is   half  over.     So  what  do  you  think  the 


OYSTER   AND   CRAB CONSCIENCE.  4 1 

little  crab  does  ?  He  crawls  along  quietly,  and 
creeps  into  the  shell  with  the  oyster,  and  the 
oyster  and  the  crab  enter  into  a  kind  of  partner- 
ship for  mutual  protection.  After  this,  when 
the  oyster  opens  his  shells,  the  little  crab  uses 
his  eyes  very  diligently  to  look  around,  and 
watch  for  the  approach  of  any  fish.  As  soon  as 
he  spies  any  sly  fish  coming  near,  he  pinches 
the  oyster,  and  immediately  the  oyster  closes  his 
shells  very  tightly,  and  the  oyster  and  the  crab 
are  both  safely  protected  from  the  fish. 

Now,  boys  and  girls,  we  are  something  like 
the  oyster.  We  are  constantly  exposed  to  the 
danger  of  being  destroyed  by  sin.  We  cannot 
see  sin,  we  cannot  hear  sin,  we  cannot  perceive 
it  by  any  of  our  senses.  So  God  has  given  us  a 
conscience,  which  means  **  to  know  with  God." 
When  you  are  tempted  to  do  a  sinful  act,  it  is 
conscience  that  quickly  whispers,  •*  Now  that 
is  wicked,"  **  If  you  do  that,  God  will  be  dis- 
pleased." 

Let  me  illustrate  this  thought.  One  real  pleas- 
ant day,  when  the  birds  are  singing,  and  every- 
thing is  attractive  out  of  doors,  Johnnie  thinks 
how  hard  it  is  to  be  studying  his  lessons  in  what 
he  calls  a  prison  of  a  school-room  He  knows  that 
papa  and  mamma  will  not  give  him  permission 
to  stay  at  home ;  so  a  little  before  nine  o'clock. 


42  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

as  he  saunters  towards  the  school,  Satan  sug- 
gests to  him  to  play  "hookey,"  and  when  he 
comes  to  the  corner  of  the  street,  looking  back 
to  be  sure  that  no  one  sees  him,  he  turns  the 
corner  to  remain  out  of  school,  intending  to 
come  home  at  the  regular  time  for  dinner  and 
escape  discovery.  Just  as  soon  as  he  turns  the 
corner,  and  even  before  that  already,  conscience 
has  seen  the  danger,  and  whispers  strong  and 
clear,  "  Johnnie,  this  is  wicked ;  you  will  surely 
get  into  trouble,  and  you  will  make  papa  and 
mamma  sad,  and  also  displease  God."  Now,  if 
Johnnie  does  not  turn  right  back  when  conscience 
warns  him,  he  is  sure  to  go  on  without  having 
any  pleasure  all  that  forenoon,  because  his  con- 
science continues  to  warn  and  reprove  him. 

Or  suppose  that  Willie  goes  down  the  street 
and  sees  Mr.  Brown's  dog  a  little  ways  off.  He 
looks  around  quickly  for  a  stone,  and  imme- 
diately conscience  says,  "Now  Willie,  don't  hit 
the  poor  dog,  for  the  stone  will  cause  him  pain, 
just  as  it  would  if  some  one  were  to  hit  you  with 
a  stone."  But  Willie  does  not  listen  to  con- 
science. He  throws  the  stone  with  all  his  might. 
It  strikes  on  the  pavement,  just  by  the  side  of 
the  dog,  glances  and  breaks  in  many  pieces  the 
large  plate  glass  in  the  window  of  the  drug 
store 


OYSTER   AND   CRAB CONSCIENCE.  43 

Willie  is  more  frightened  than  the  dog,  and 
without  a  moment  for  thought  he  runs  around 
the  corner,  to  get  out  of  sight.  And  after  con- 
cealing himself  for  a  time  in  the  alley,  he  steals 
quietly  into  the  house  at  the  back  door.  How 
he  dreads  to  meet  his  father  and  mother.  Every 
time  the  door  bell  rings  he  thinks  surely  that  it 
is  the  druggist  or  the  policeman.  Oh  !  how  this 
sin  pains  him  ;  just  like  the  oyster  would  be  hurt 
if  he  does  not  heed  the  little  crab,  when  he 
warns  him  that  the  fish  is  coming  to  destroy 
him.  If  WilHe  had  only  listened  to  conscience, 
what  sin  and  trouble  it  would  have  saved  him. 
So,  boys  and  girls,  God  has  given  each  of  us  a 
conscience,  and  if  we  want  to  be  saved  from  sin 
and  suffering,  we  should  always  be  quick  to  obey 
our  conscience.  Let  each  of  us  try  and  "  keep 
a  good  conscience." 


THE  WORM  IN  THE  APPLE. 

SIN  IN  THE  HUMAN  HEART. 

Before  beginning  the  object  sermon,  I  desire 
to  say  to  those  who  are  older,  that  the  purpose  of 
presenting  the  truth  in  this  simple  way  to  the 
minds  of  the  young,  is  not  to  appear  to  prove 
or  demonstrate  the  truth,  but  the  purpose  is 
simply  to  illustrate,  to  make  plain  and  intelli- 
gible, that  which  would  otherwise  be  quite  dif- 
ficult for  the  younger  to  comprehend. 

The  object  which  I  have  chosen  this  morning, 
is  one  with  which  I  am  sure  every  boy  and  girl 
here  is  thoroughly  familiar.  The  moment  you 
see  it  you  recognize  it.  This  large  and  beautiful 
apple  is  one  of  the  most  perfect  of  its  kind, 
large  in  size,  beautiful  in  color,  and  one  which 
tempts  the  appetite  of  any  one  who  is  hungry. 

Now,  boys  and  girls,  I  have  here  another  ob- 
ject. Can  you  tell  me  what  this  is  ?  I  expected 
that  you  would  say  that  it  was  an  apple,  and  that 
is  true.  But  you  have  not  told  me  the  whole  truth 


Objects  used :  Large  perfect  apple;  a  stunted  wormy  apple. 
44 


SIN   IN   THE   HEART.  45 

concerning  it.  This  is  not  only  an  apple,  but  it  is  a 
wormy  apple.  It  did  not  grow  as  large  as  the  other, 
and,  by  looking  at  the  outside,  I  see  that  it  is  de- 
fective. It  is  stunted,  like  wormy  apples  quite 
universally  are.  You  might  think  that  the  worm 
went  into  this  apple  because  it  was  not  full  grown 
and  strong  and  large,  the  same  as  it  is  some- 
times thought  that  boys  who  have  never  improved 
their  advantages,  but  have  failed  to  become  noble 
and  good,  therefore  sin  has  entered  their  hearts. 
The  truth  is  just  the  reverse ;  wickedness  first 
possessed  their  hearts,  and  that  has  been  the 
cause  of  their  failure  to  improve  their  opportu- 
nities, and  to  become  manly,  and  noble,  and  good, 
and  kind.  If  they  had  first  got  the  evil  and  sin 
out  of  their  hearts,  they  would  surely  have  stood 
a  much  better  chance.  They  would  have  become 
Christians,  and  have  grown  up  more  and  more 
like  Christ,  to  be  good,  and  kind,  and  generous, 
and  useful. 

I  want  to  ask  you  a  question  concerning  this 
worm.  But  to  be  sure  that  we  are  not  mistaken, 
let  me  take  my  knife  and  cut  this  apple  in  two, 
and  see  whether  or  no  there  is  a  worm  inside. 
Just  as  I  said,  this  is  a  wormy  apple.  It  has  evi- 
dently had  two  worms  in  it.  Here  is  one  of  them, 
and  the  other  has  taken  his  departure.  Now, 
boys  and  girls,  I  want  to  ask  you,  did  this  worm 


46  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

eat  his  way  into  the  apple,  or  did  he  eat  his  way 
out  of  the  apple?  Quite  as  I  anticipated.  I  ex- 
pected that  you  would  say  that  he  ate  his  way 
into  the  apple ;  but  the  fact  is,  he  ate  his  way  out 
of  the  apple.  I  am  sure  that  you  will  ask  imme- 
diately, at  least  in  your  minds,  how  then  did  he 
get  in,  if  he  ate  his  way  out  ?  I  will  tell  you  how 
it  was.  Early  last  spring,  just  after  the  apple 
trees  had  been  in  blossom,  and  when  this  apple 
had  just  begun  to  form  on  one  of  the  branches, 
there  came  along  a  bug  and  stung  this  apple,  and 
deposited  in  the  inside  the  germ  of  the  worm. 
As  the  summ.er  grew  warmer,  and  the  apple  grew 
larger,  the  germ  began  to  develop,  until  finally  it 
grew  into  a  worm.  When  it  began  to  grow 
strong,  it  discovered  that  it  was  confined  in  the 
interior  of  something,  and  soon  it  began  to  eat, 
and  continued  until  it  ate  its  way  out  of  the 
apple.  This  other  worm,  which  still  remained  in, 
had  continued  to  eat  in  the  various  portions  of 
the  apple,  and  possibly  because  of  having  less 
bodily  vigor  had  concluded  to  remain  there  for  a 
time,  but  you  can  see  from  the  inside  of  the  apple 
that  it  has  done  great  injury,  at  the  very  core 
or  heart,  and  I  suppose  that  if  it  had  been  left  to 
itself,  in  the  course  of  a  few  days,  or  a  few  weeks 
at  most,  it  also  would  have  eaten  its  way  out  of 
the  apple,  in  order  to  escape  from  its  confinement. 


SIN   IN   THE   HEART.  47 

Now,  boys  and  girls,  this  worm  represents  sin 
in  the  human  heart,  or  wickedness  possibly  pre- 
sents the  thought  better,  and  when  you  see  a 
boy  or  girl  doing  wrong,  they  are  simply  giving 
outward  expression  to  the  wickedness  which 
exists  in  their  hearts.  Boys  are  bad,  not  because 
the  influences  by  which  they  are  surrounded  are 
bad,  but  because  their  hearts  are  sinful,  and 
wicked,  and  bad.  But  I  am  sure  that  you  will 
want  to  know  how  wickedness  gets  into  the 
human  heart.  I  will  tell  you  how  it  is.  Way 
back  in  the  spring-time  of  the  history  of  the 
human  race,  way  back  in  the  Garden  of  Eden, 
soon  after  God  had  created  Adam  and  Eve, 
Satan  came  and  inspired  in  the  hearts  of  these 
first  people  the  desire  to  disobey  God.  God  told 
Adam  and  Eve  that  they  should  not  eat  of  the 
fruit  of  the  forbidden  tree,  and  that  when  they 
did  they  would  die,  that  is,  they  would  be 
separated  from  God.  Satan  came  and  told  them 
that  they  would  not  die,  but  that  when  they  ate 
of  the  fruit  of  this  tree  they  would  become  very 
wise.  They  believed  Satan  rather  than  God,  and 
they  did  that  which  was  wicked  and  wrong.  And 
so  throughout  all  the  generations  since,  there  has 
been  that  willingness  to  believe  Satan  and  to  do 
what  he  wants  us  to  do,  rather  than  to  beheve 
God  and  do  what  God  would  have  us  to  do. 


48  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

Boys  and  girls  who  find  themselves  inclined  to 
disobey  their  father  or  mother,  to  be  disrespect- 
ful to  those  who  are  older  than  they,  to  do  wrong 
on  the  Sabbath,  to  remain  away  from  the  Sun- 
day-school and  church,  and  to  enjoy  the  beauti- 
ful spring-day,  by  strolling  through  the  fields  or 
wandering  through  the  woods,  do  so,  not  alone 
because  the  day  is  pleasant  or  because  of  the  op- 
portunities, from  which  others  turn  away,  but  be- 
cause there  is  wickedness  in  their  hearts.  So  when 
boys  quarrel  and  fight,  or  steal,  or  do  any  other 
thing  that  is  wrong,  it  is  not  so  much  the  influ- 
ences by  which  they  are  surrounded,  the  tempta- 
tion from  without,  but  the  wickedness  and  the  evil 
and  the  sinfulness  which  there  is  in  the  human 
heart,  eating  its  way  out  through  their  heart  into 
their  lives,  and  deforming  their  lives,  which 
otherwise  would  be  upright,  honorable  and 
manly  and  Christ-like.  I  trust  that  when  you  are 
tempted  to  do  wrong  you  will  recognize  the  fact 
that  there  is  evil  in  your  hearts,  and  that  you  will 
go  to  Jesus  and  earnestly  pray  Him  to  take 
away  this  evil  out  of  your  hearts,  and  to  give  you 
a  new  heart  and  a  clean  heart.  Just  the  same  as 
with  these  apples,  if  you  had  the  privilege  of 
choosing,  I  am  sure  you  would  prefer  the  large  one, 
which  has  not  been  spoiled  because  of  the  destruc- 
tive worm  inside,  so  I  trust  you  will  choose  to  have 


SIN    IN   THE   HEART.  49 

the  good  heart,  which  God  can  give  you,  rather 
than  the  heart  that  has  wickedness  and  sin  with- 
in. If  you  will  go  to  God  in  prayer  and  ask  Him, 
He  will  give  you  a  good  heart,  a  true  heart,  one 
that  has  no  sin  and  no  wickedness  within. 


THE  PASSPORT. 

CITIZENS  OF  AN  HEAVENLY  COUNTRY. 

Boys  and  girls  :  I  suppose  you  all  know  that 
we  live  in  the  United  States  of  America.  Most 
likely  all  who  are  in  this  audience  this  morning 
are  citizens  of  this  great  country.  To  be  a  citi- 
zen, is  not  simply  to  live  in  a  country,  but  to  be 
so  related  to  that  country  as  to  be  entitled  to  all 
its  benefits  and  to  its  protection,  both  at  home 
and  abroad. 

I  hold  in  my  hand  this  large  document,  which 
is  called  a  passport.  When  any  citizen  of  the 
United  States  desires  to  travel  through  the  coun- 
tries of  Europe  or  Asia,  or  any  part  of  the  world, 
he  can  secure  one  of  these  passports  from  the 
Secretary  of  State  at  Washington,  and  by  carry- 
ing this  with  him  wherever  he  goes  it  may  prove 
of  great  service  to  him.  This  is  a  document  by 
which  the  United  States   Government  officially 


Object  used  :  United  States  Passport.  This  can  be  obtained 
by  addressing  the  "  Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C," 
and  requesting  a  blank  to  be  filled  in  order  to  secure  a  Pass- 
port. 

SO 


CITIZENS    OF   HEAVEN.  5 1 

announces  to  all  the  nations  of  the  world  that  the 
person  to  whom  it  has  been  given  is  a  citizen  of 
this  country.  Being  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  through  whatever  nation  we  may  pass,  we 
are  therefore  to  be  regarded,  not  as  citizens  of 
those  countries,  but  to  belong  to  the  United 
States,  and  also  to  be  entitled  to  its  protection, 
even  to  so  great  an  extent  that  if  we  were  unlaw- 
fully held  a  prisoner,  or  suffered  wrong  of  any 
kind,  this  nation  of  ours,  if  necessary,  would  even 
send  its  great  warships  and  soldiers  to  make  war 
against  any  nation  that  did  not  respect  and  honor 
the  rights  which,  as  citizens  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  we  are  justly  entitled  to  enjoy. 

This  document  secures  to  its  owner  very  great 
rights  and  privileges,  and  lest  it  might  be 
counterfeited  or  imitated,  you  will  see  when  I 
spread  it  wide  open,  and  hold  it  toward  the 
Hght,  how  there  is  impressed  in  the  paper  itself  a 
very  large  eagle,  representing  our  national 
emblem.  In  his  claws  are  several  arrows;  be- 
neath his  feet  are  the  stars,  which  represent  the 
several  states;  and  on  the  scroll  the  Latin  words 
''EPliiribus  Unum!'  All  this,  beautifully  resting 
upon  a  shield,  above  which  in  large  letters,  are 
the  words  *' United  States  of  America,"  and 
below,  "Department  of  State."  This  passport 
not  only  declares    the  owner  a  citizen  of   the 


52  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

United  States  and  entitled  to  its  protection,  but 
here  at  one  side  is  a  description  of  the  owner,  so 
that  it  cannot  be  stolen  away  and  be  used  by 
any  person  for  whom  it  was  not  intended.  It 
tells  the  name,  age,  height,  whether  the  forehead 
is  high  or  low,  the  color  of  the  eyes,  whether  the 
nose  is  low  and  flat,  or  high  and  Roman.  And 
so  it  goes  on  to  describe  also  the  mouth,  chin, 
hair,  complexion  and  face. 

But,  boys  and  girls,  we  are  citizens  also  of  an 
heavenly  country.  Paul  says,  "  We  are  fellow 
citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of 
God."  (Ephesians,  ii:  19.)  The  Bible  tells  us 
that  we  are  "Strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the 
earth  "  (  Hebrews,  xi :  13)  and  that  this  is  only 
"The  house  of  our  pilgrimage."  (  Psalms,  cxix  : 
54.)  We  are  more  than  simply  citizens  of 
America.  We  are  "sons  and  daughters  of  the 
Lord  Almighty." 

Now,  if  we  are  citizens  of  Heaven,  you  and  I 
also  have  the  passport  of  that  country  and  are 
entitled  to  the  protection  of  Heaven.  As 
citizens  of  that  heavenly  countiy  the  Bible  de- 
clares that  although  we  are  in  this  world,  yet  we 
are  not  of  it — do  not  belong  to  it.  God  in 
Heaven  stands  pledged  to  defend  and  protect  us 
against  all  wrong.  Even  though  we  may  suffer 
a  brief  injustice,  yet   God    will    place   all   the 


CITIZENS  OF   HEAVEN  53 

universe  under  tribute  to  secure  for  us  justice  and 
protection.  Individuals  may  do  us  wrong  and 
try  to  harm  us,  but  all  the  wrongs  which  we 
suffer  will  be  set  right  in  the  great  Day  of  Judg- 
ment. We  are  simply  passing  through  this 
world  on  our  journey  to  our  Father's  house  in 
the  heavenly  country,  and  you  and  I  should  be 
careful  to  remember  that  we  are  ''the  children  of 
the  King."  We  should  not  lead  wicked  and 
sinful  lives,  and  become  worldly  and  wicked,  like 
those  who  are  only  of  this  world. 

If  I  were  in  Italy,  or  any  other  country,  and 
was  unlawfully  dealt  with,  I  should  at  once 
telegraph  my  wrong  to  the  Secretary  of  State  at 
Washington,  and  I  could  be  sure  that  he  would 
immediately  interfere,  and  greatly  interest  him- 
self in  my  behalf.  So  when  we  suffer  wrong, 
when  Satan  and  wicked  people  who  would  do 
anything  against  us,  you  and  I  can  go  imme- 
diately to  God  in  prayer,  and  He  will  hear  us, 
and  if  He  does  not  entirely  place  us  beyond 
the  present  power  of  our  enemies.  He  will  at 
least  give  us  grace  to  bear  our  wrong  until  the 
day  when  He  shall  finally  deliver  us  out  of  their 
power.  If  we  ask  Him,  He  will  also  give  us  wis- 
dom so  that  we  may  know  how  to  act. 

Hymn. — "  I  am  the  Child  of  a  King." 


THE  CHART. 


AVOIDING  THE  DANGERS. 


My  little  men  and  women  :  We  are  all  trav- 
elers. Now  when  a  traveler  starts  out  upon  a 
journey  he  always  desires  to  have  in  his  posses- 
sion one  of  these  things  which  I  hold  in  my  hand. 
I  know  you  will  recognize  it  at  once,  and  say 
that  it  is  a  map.  This  map  tells  you  the  name 
of  the  country ;  it  shows  you  where  there  are 
mountains,  where  there  are  rivers,  where  there 
are  valleys,  where  there  are  cities,  and  shows  you 
the  entire  country  of  Germany.  In  traveling 
through  a  strange  country,  if  you  do  not  have  a 
map,  you  might  be  lost  upon  the  mountains,  or 
your  journey  would  be  obstructed  by  the  rivers 
which  you  could  not  cross,  and  in  various  ways 
you  would  find  it  absolutely  necessary  to  have  a 
map. 

Now,  when  a  traveler  goes  out  upon  the  sea, 
it  is  just  as  necessary  that  he  should  have  a  map, 
or  what  the  sailors  call  a  chart,  as  it  is  for  the 


Object  used:     A  map  of  any  country, 
54 


AVOIDING   DANGERS.  55 

traveler  upon  the  land.  The  chart  which  the  sea 
captain  has,  shows  the  mountains  and  the  valleys 
and  the  rivers  which  are  in  the  sea ;  for  these 
exist  in  the  sea,  as  well  as  upon  the  land.  The 
rocks,  against  which  the  ships  are  sometimes 
dashed  to  pieces,  are  simply  the  tops  of  high 
mountains  that  come  very  near  to  the  surface  of 
the  sea;  and  the  captain  without  a  chart,  not 
knowing  where  they  are,  is  likely  to  run  against 
them  with  his  ship.  The  islands  are  simply  the 
tops  of  these  mountains,  that  rise  higher  above 
the  water,  and  form  a  place  of  abode  for  man ; 
and  we  call  them  islands,  because  they  are  very 
much  smaller  than  the  great  continents  on  which 
you  and  I  live. 

A  chart  of  the  sea  always  locates  the  danger- 
ous places.  They  show  where  other  ships  have 
been  foundered,  and  oftentimes  where  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  lives  have  been  lost.  It  also 
shows  what  are  really  rivers  in  the  sea,  or  great 
currents,  one  of  which  we  call  the  Gulf  Stream. 
When  a  ship  is  crossing  the  Gulf  Stream  the  mo- 
tion or  current  of  this  water  might  carry  it  many 
hundreds  of  miles  out  of  its  course,  and  if  the 
caiptain  had  no  chart  he  would  not  be  able  to 
allow  for  this  distance,  which  the  ship  is  being 
carried,  either  north  or  south. 

Now,  you  and  I  are   travelers  in  this  world. 


56  OBJECT   SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

We  are  out  upon  a  great  voyage,  and  it  is  necessary 
that  we  should  have  a  chart,  and  therefore  God 
has  given  us  the  Bible,  which  you  and  I  can  use 
greatly  to  our  advantage.  In  the  Bible,  God  has 
pointed  out  the  dangers  which  lie  like  the  hidden 
rocks  under  the  surface  of  the  sea.  In  the  com- 
mandments God  marks  out  the  great  dangers 
which  beset  you  and  me.  There  is  the  rock  of 
idolatry.  Whole  nations  of  the  earth  have  been 
wrecked  on  this  rock.  Then  there  is  another. 
Profanity,  swearing :  Oh  !  how  many  boys  and 
men  are  ruined  because  they  do  not  observe  how 
God  has  marked  this  dangerous  rock,  against 
which  no  one  can  run  without  the  danger  of  los- 
ing his  immortal  soul.  Then  there  is  the  Sabbath 
breaking,  another  rock ;  and  there  is  reverence 
due  to  parents ;  and  God  marks  another,  "  Thou 
shalt  not  kill ";  and  then  there  is  another,  against 
committing  adultery,  against  stealing,  against 
bearing  false  witness,  against  covetousness.  All 
these  dangerous  rocks  God  has  marked  in  the 
Bible,  in  order  that  you  and  I  may  not  run 
against  them,  and  thus  be  shipwrecked  m  our 
voyage  to  the  haven  of  everlasting  rest. 

God  also  marks  the  influences  which  you  and 
I  must  come  in  contact  with.  Every  boy  who 
goes  to  school  feels  the  influence  of  other  boys, 
some  of  whom  are  very  bad.     If  he  permits  him- 


AVOIDING   DANGERS.  57 

self  to  be  influenced  by  these  things  he  will  go 
wrong,  just  the  same  as  the  ship  that  in  crossing 
the  Gulf  Stream  is  carried  out  of  its  course.  So 
the  Bible  warns  us  against  bad  company. 

Now  the  chart  which  the  sea  captain  has,  indi- 
cates also  the  ports  of  safety.  It  shows  the 
location  of  these  different  ports,  and  the  direc- 
tion he  must  take  in  order  to  reach  them.  So 
the  Bible  shows  us  where  you  and  I  can  find 
refuge  in  the  day  of  storm,  and  in  the  day  of 
trial,  and  in  the  day  of  sickness,  and  in  the  day 
of  distress.  To  the  'sea  captain,  out  upon  the 
great  ocean,  there  are  ten  thousand  directions 
which  are  sure  to  end  in  shipwreck.  There  is 
only  one  safe  way  to  go,  in  order  to  reach  the 
port  in  security. 

Now  what  would  you  think  of  a  captain  out 
upon  the  seas  who  folded  up  his  chart  and  laid  it 
carefullyawciy,  and  never  looked  at  it,  never  studied 
it,  never  sought  to  know  what  is  on  the  chart?  Do 
you  not  see  how  he  would  go  upon  the  rocks? 
His  ship  would  go  down  to  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  just  as  surely  as  if  he  had  no  chart  on  board 
his  ship.  It  is  important  that  he  should  have  it 
in  constant  use.  So  it  is  important,  not  only  that 
we  should  have  the  Bible,  but  that  we  should  use 
the  Bible,  that  we  should  read  it,  that  we  should 
study  it,  that  we  should  know  what  it  says.     I 


58  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

trust  that  each  and  all  of  you  not  only  have 
Bibles,  but  that  you  study  them  daily,  and  that 
you  seek  to  avoid  the  dangers  which  God  has 
pointed  out,  and  desire  to  know  the  will  of  God 
concerning  you. 


THE  ANCHOR. 

HOPE  THAT   LAYS   HOLD   OF   CHRIST. 

My  YOUNG  friends:  I  want  to  talk  to  you 
to-day  about  a  very  important  subject.  The 
Bible  speaks  of  hope,  and  says,  "Which  hope  we 
have  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  both  sure  and 
steadfast,  and  which  entereth  into  that  within  the 
veil."  (Hebrew,  6:  19). 

I  suppose  most  of  you  have  been  on  board  a 
ship  or  large  boat.  Very  near  the  bow,  or  front 
end  of  the  boat,  you  have  doubtless  noticed  a 
chain,  at  the  end  of  which  was  an  anchor,  made 
in  the  form  of  this  one  which  I  hold  in  my  hand. 
Now,  I  would  not  care  to  go  out  to  sea  on  any 
ship  which  did  not  have  an  anchor  on  board. 
In  crossing  the  Atlantic  you  may  sometimes  be 
out  for  days  and  weeks,  and  sometimes  even  for 
months,  and  have  no  need  of  using  the  anchor. 
But  all  the  time,  while  the  weather  is  pleasant 
and  everything  is  moving   along  prosperously, 


Object  used :    An  anchor  of  any  kind,  one  cut  from  paste- 
board will  be  all  that  is  necessary. 

59 


6o  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

the  fact  that  the  anchor  is  on  board  the  ship  and 
that  it  can  be  used  in  time  of  danger,  gives  a 
sense  of  security  to  all  the  passengers.  If  it  were 
not  there  you  would  constantly  fear,  lest  the 
storm  might  come,  and  then  your  ship  might  be 
lost  with  its  many  hundreds  of  lives  on  board, 
simply  because  it  had  no  anchor. 

Every  man  and  woman,  and  every  boy  and 
girl,  needs  to  have  hope  as  an  anchor  to  his  soul. 
We  should  have  faith  in  God,  and  then  at  times 
when  all  is  well,  when  we  are  prosperous  and  blest, 
and  everything  goes  along  like  the  ship  in  pleas- 
ant weather,  we  will  constantly  have  peace  and 
rest  in  our  minds  and  hearts,  because  we  know 
that  our  hope  is  staid  on  God,  and  that  though 
the  world  be  removed,  yet  God  will  not  disap- 
point us. 

Some  people  seem  to  think  that  religion  is  a 
good  thing  to  have  when  they  get  sick,  or  adver- 
sity or  sorrow  or  great  affliction  comes.  But 
the  fact  is  that  religion  is  a  necessary  thing  at  all 
times.  We  need  it  when  we  are  well  and  strong, 
as  well  as  when  we  are  sick  and  weak.  We  need 
it  in  this  world,  and  we  need  religion  to  live  by, 
as  well  as  to  die  by,  and  for  our  salvation  in  the 
world  to  come. 

The  anchor  is  very  serviceable  indeed  in  time 
of  storm.     Often  it  has  to  be  used  in  order  to 


LAYING    HOLD    OF   CHRIST.  6l 

secure  the  ship  and  save  the  lives  of  all  who  are 
on  board.  If  it  were  not  for  the  anchor  the  ship 
might  be  thrust  upon  the  rocks,  or  it  might  be 
dashed  to  pieces  by  the  waves  that  break  upon 
the  coast.  The  anchor  is  oftentimes  very  service- 
able. So  it  is  with  the  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  When  trials  and  perplexities  and  adversi- 
ties come, as  they  do  in  every  life,  then  it  is  that  this 
anchor  is  a  source  of  very  great  blessing,  because 
it  saves  us  from  shipwreck,  on  account  of  unbe- 
lief and  the  perplexities  into  which  those  are 
cast  who  have  no  hope,  or  trust  in  God. 

To  be  serviceable  the  anchor  must  take  hold 
of  something.  If  it  simply  drags  along  it  will 
not  hold  the  ship;  but  the  ship  may  go  to  pieces 
on  the  rocks,  even  though  it  has  an  anchor, 
which  has  already  been  cast  over.  Now  in  time 
of  sorrow  and  perplexity  or  distress,  every  one 
throws  out  an  anchor.  That  is,  he  tries  to  take 
hold  of  something  which  will  sustain  him  and 
keep  him,  just  the  same  as  a  boy  who  falls  into 
the  water  would  grab  after  a  board.  They  say  that 
a  drowning  man  will  even  grasp  after  a  straw  in 
order  to  help  to  support  his  body,  so  that  he 
may  save  his  life.  So  every  one  in  perplexity 
reaches  out  to  lay  hold  of  something.  But  the 
text  which  I  quoted  in  the  beginning  says  that 
this  hope  which  we  have  as  an  anchor  to  the  soul 


62  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

lays  hold  of  something,  and  that  something  is  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  like  the  ship,  whose 
anchor  goes  down,  far  below  the  waves,  deep 
down  out  of  sight,  and  lays  hold  of  the  rocks 
which  form  the  foundation  of  the  earth.  So  the 
faith  of  the  Christian  is  staid,  not  on  the  things 
which  are  seen,  but  on  the  things  which  are  not 
seen.  As  the  text  expresses  it,  it  lays  hold  of 
those  things  "  which  entereth  into  that  which  is 
within  the  veil."  That  is,  this  figure  refers  to  the 
Temple  at  Jerusalem,  when  the  Holy  of  the  Holies 
was  concealed  from  the  rest  of  the  Temple  by  a 
large  curtain  or  veil,  and  no  one  was  permitted 
to  go  into  this  Holy  of  Holies  except  the  High 
Priest,  and  he  but  once  a  year.  But  when  you 
and  I  have  the  faith  of  the  Christian,  although  we 
may  not  be  able  to  enter  into  the  great  mystery  of 
God's  grace  and  mercy,  yet  our  faith  lays  hold 
of  that  which  is  beyond  our  understanding,  and 
beyond  our  possibility  to  see  or  fully  to  compre- 
hend, and  thus  our  faith  lays  hold  of  that  which 
is  within  the  veil.  With  our  understanding,  you 
and  I  cannot  enter  into  the  mysteries  of  God, 
but  by  faith  we  can  enter  into  them.  I  trust 
that  every  boy  and  girl  here  will  have  that  faith 
in  God,  which  will  be  as  an  anchor  to  his  soul, 
sure  and  steadfast,  entering  within  the  veil  at 
all  times. 


IRON— LOW  GRADE  AND  HIGH  GRADE. 

CHARACTER  AND  WORTH. 

My  DEAR  BOYS  AND  GIRLS :  I  Want  to  show 
you  this  morning  that  there  is  a  great  difference 
in  the  value  of  things,  even  though  they  are  made 
of  the  same  material.  In  the  second  chapter  of 
Genesis  we  are  told,  ''And  the  Lord  God  formed 
man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground."  So,  you  see 
that  all  men  and  women  are  made  of  the  same 
material,  yet  there  are  great  diversities  among 
men,  both  in  character  and  works. 

I  have  here  some  iron  ore,  some  old  iron,  some 
nails ;  here  are  some  clock  springs,  and  here  are 
some  springs  of  watches.  This  iron  ore  is  as  it 
is  dug  from  the  earth.  It  is  called  the  native 
iron,  but  mixed  with  it  there  is  much  earth  and 
stone  and  dross,  which  must  be  separated  from  it  in 
order  to  make  it  pure.  This  is  done  by  casting  the 
ore,  together  with  limestone  and  other  materials, 
into  a  huge  furnace,  where  the  fire  is  so  intensely 
hot  that  all  are  melted  and  thus  the  iron  is  separ- 


Objects  used :     Old  iron,  nails,  broken    clock   and  watch 
springs.     Also  native  iron  ore,  if  convenient. 
63 


64  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

ated  from  the  dross,  or  stone  and  earth,  which  is 
now  mixed  with  the  ore.  When  the  iron  is  thus 
separated  and  molded  into  large  bars,  it  is  worth 
from  a  fraction  of  a  cent  to  two  cents  per  pound, 
according  to  quality  and  market  value.  After  it 
has  been  cast  into  great  iron  bars,  and  is  known  as 
pig  iron,  it  is  afterward  bought  and  melted  over 
again  and  molded  into  the  form  of  stoves  and 
wheels,  such  as  are  used  in  factories,  and  a 
variety  of  other  forms  for  manufacturing  and 
other  uses. 

Now,  here  I  have  some  pieces  of  iron,  such  as 
boys  call  ''old  iron."  They  often  find  pieces  of 
this  kind  of  iron,  which  have  been  thrown  away, 
and  gather  and  sell  them  at  a  price  varying  from 
one-quarter  to  a  cent  a  pound,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances. Then  it  is  melted  over  again  and 
made  into  stoves,  or  whatever  the  manufacturer 
may  desire.  Now,  here  are  some  nails,  such  as 
sell  at  five  cents  a  pound,  and  here  are  some  steel 
pens,  which  are  worth  from  one  to  four  and  five 
dollars  a  pound.  Here  are  some  springs,  such 
as  are  used  in  the  construction  of  clocks.  These 
are  the  springs  which  make  clocks  go.  When 
you  wind  up  the  clock  you  simply  tighten  this 
spring,  thus  storing  the  power  which  is  necessary 
to  keep  the  clock  in  motion  for  twenty-four 
hours,  for  eight  days,  or  even  a  longer  period. 


CHARACTER   AND   WORTH.  6$ 

Now  here  are  some  springs,  such  as  are  used 
in  watches.  These  springs  are  worth,  according 
to  their  size  and  quaHty,  from  twenty  to  fifty  or 
sixty  dollars  a  pound.  Here  also  are  some  little 
screws,  such  as  are  used  in  the  construction  of 
watches,  and  which  are  worth  even  a  hundred 
dollars  a  pound. 

While  these  different  articles  are  all  made  of 
the  same  material,  you  see  there  is  a  great  differ- 
ence in  their  value.  One  is  not  worth  a  single 
cent  a  pound,  and  another  may  be  worth  one 
hundred  dollars  a  pound.  Now  this  difference 
in  value  is  due  to  two  things.  One  is,  difference 
in  quality,  and  the  other  is  the  use  which  is 
made  of  the  article  into  which  the  iron  is  manu- 
factured. 

I  suppose,  if  these  different  pieces  of  metal 
could  think,  and  had  the  power  of  speech,  this 
piece  of  old  iron  would  complain  to  the  other 
pieces  which  are  of  more  value,  and  say  to  the 
watch  spring,  *T  am  just  as  good  as  you  are,  we 
were  both  dug  from  the  same  ore  bed.  I 
remember  the  time  when  we  were  both  cast  into 
the  hot  fire  and  melted  in  the  furnace;  after  that 
I  was  taken  to  the  foundry,  and  made  into  a 
stove,  and  after  a  few  years  of  use  I  was  rejected 
and  cast  into  the  alley.  I  have  had  to  lie  about 
in  the  mud  and  in  the  cold  and  snow,  and  men 


66  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

have  passed  me  by  and  scorned  me  as  though  I 
was  of  no  value.  But  I  want  you  to  understand 
Mr.  Clockspring  and  Mr.  Watchspring,  that  I 
am  just  as  good  as  you  are,  and  there  is  no 
reason  why  I  should  be  cast  out  into  the  mud 
and  cold,  while  you  are  placed  in  a  gold  case 
and  carried  in  a  gentleman's  pocket." 

The  nail  also  would  cry  out,  and  say  that  he 
was  just  as  good  as  the  little  screws  which  are 
used  in  the  watch,  and  would  complain  against 
being  driven  violently  into  a  board,  where  it  is 
compelled,  year  after  year,  to  hold  a  board  on  to 
the.  side  of  a  building ;  to  have  putty  placed  over 
its  head,  and  then  paint  over  the  top  of  that,  so 
that  nobody  could  even  so  much  as  see  where  it 
was,  or  know  what  it  was  doing. 

Now,  the  old  iron,  and  the  nail,  and  the  others 
have  no  right  to  complain.  There  is  a  vast  dif- 
ference of  quality,  and  there  is  also  a  difference 
of  work. 

The  higher  grades  and  better  qualities  of  metals 
are  secured  by  refining  processes.  Again  and 
again  the  metal  is  cast  in  the  fire  and  melted. 
Sometimes  it  is  beaten  on  the  anvil  into  such 
shapes  and  forms  as  will  render  the  metal  of 
greater  service,  and  consequently  of  more  value. 

Suppose  this  metal  had  feeling,  and  the  power 
to  express  its  wish.     Do  you  not  see  how  it  would 


CHARACTER   AND  WORTH.  6^ 

cry  out  against  being  cast  into  the  fire,  and  being 
beaten  with  great  hammers  upon  the  anvil  ?  I 
am  sure  the  fire,  the  hammers,  and  the  anvil  bring 
no  sense  of  pleasure  to  the  metal  while  being 
refined  and  being  beaten  into  such  forms  as  ren- 
der it  of  greatest  value. 

Just  so,  in  some  senses  at  least,  are  all  boys 
and  girls  alike.  If  they  were  all  permitted  to 
grow  up  in  neglect,  without  being  governed 
by  thoughtful  parents,  without  being  educated 
and  refined,  without  being  sent  to  school  and  re- 
quired to  attend  church,  without  being  taught  at 
home  and  being  instructed  in  the  Catechism  and 
in  the  Bible,  and  without  being  shown  their  duty 
to  God  and  their  fellow  men,  they  would  all  be 
pretty  much  alike.  It  is  the  difference  in  the 
influences  that  are  made  to  refine  some  boys  that 
causes  them  to  differ  so  much  from  others  who  are 
about  them.  The  boy  who  has  only  been  taught 
to  pick  stones,  or  sweep  the  streets,  or  dig  ditches, 
may  cry  out  against  the  boy  who  is  gentlemanly, 
and  obliging,  and  obedient,  and  truthful,  and  re- 
liable, and  who  has  a  position  of  great  responsi- 
bility in  a  bank,  or  in  the  office  of  some  man 
who  occupies  a  very  responsible  position,  yet 
oftentimes,  and  quite  universally,  there  is  a  very 
great  difference  in  the  merit  and  value  of  these 
two  boys.     One  has  been  disciplined  and  gov- 


68  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

erned  and  controlled,  educated  and  taught,  while 
the  other  has  likely  been  neglected,  and  conse- 
quently has  not  learned  the  importance  of  these 
things. 

God  designs  to  refine  all  of  us,  and  therefore 
He  desires  that  all  should  be  taught  to  study, 
should  learn  to  read  and  write,  should  learn  all 
they  can  from  the  schools,  should  be  taught  to 
work,  should  be  taught  to  expect  trials  and  self- 
denials,  and  should  be  led  to  expect  sickness  and 
disappointments,  and  all  these  things  by  which 
God  designs  to  make  us  better  from  year  to 
year.  But,  just  the  same  as  the  iron  would  cry 
out  against  being  cast  into  the  fire  and  being 
beaten  upon  the  anvil,  so  do  boys  and  girls,  and 
men  and  women,  also,  cry  out  against  the  provi- 
dences by  which  God  is  refining  us  and  making 
us  better  for  this  world  and  fitting  us  for  the 
world  to  come. 

If  we  desire  to  be  of  largest  service  in  this 
world,  and  to  occupy  a  place  of  honor  in  the 
world  to  come,  we  must  expect  that  God  will 
deal  with  us,  as  He  has  told  us  in  the  ninth 
verse  of  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  Zachariah,  in 
which  He  says,  "  I  will  refine  them  as  silver  is 
refined,  and  will  try  them  as  gold  is  tried."  And 
in  the  book  of  Malachi  He  says  that  He,  that  is 
God,  is  "  like  a  refiner's  fire,  and  like  fullers'  soap, 


CHARACTER   AND   WORTH.  69 

and    He  shall   sit   as  a  refiner  and   purifier  of 
silver,  and  purge  them  as  gold  and  silver." 

When  the  gold  and  the  silver  is  cast  into  the 
crucible  to  be  purified,  the  fire  is  made  very  hot, 
and  the  metal  is  left  in  the  crucible  until  the  man 
who  is  refining  it  and  who  sits  looking  into  the 
crucible  can  see  his  own  image  reflecting  in  the 
metal.  So  we  are  cast  into  the  fires  of  affliction, 
and  God  looks  down  upon  us,  but  when  we  be- 
come like  Him,  so  that  God  sees  His  own  self 
reflecting  in  our  character,  and  in  our  disposi- 
tion, and  in  our  temper,  then  we  shall  be  refined 
as  God  desires,  and  He  will  then  be  ready  to 
receive  us  into  His  own  home  on  high. 


A  POCKET  RULE. 


HOW  GOD  MEASURES  MEN. 


My  dear  young  friends  :  I  am  sure  you  will 
be  able  to  tell  me  what  these  are  which  I  hold 
in  my  hand.  This  you  would  call  a  yard-stick ; 
the  other,  because  it  folds,  you  would  call  a 
pocket  rule,  and  here  is  another,  which  you 
would  call  a  tape  measure. 

Now,  if  I  were  going  to  measure  any  of  you,  to 
tell  how  tall  you  are,  I  would  use  one  or  the 
other  of  these  rules  ;  as  each  is  divided  into  even 
inches,  I  could  use  any  of  these  three  I  should 
prefer.  I  would  say  one  boy  is  four  feet  two 
inches,  another  four  feet  nine  inches  and  another 
five  feet  four  inches,  and  so  on,  according  to  the 
height  of  each  individual.  We  speak  of  this 
kind  of  measure  as  feet  and  inches.  When  it  is 
used  in  measuring  cloth,  or  other  goods  in  a 
store,  we  speak  of  it  as  yards  and  parts  of  yards. 
Then  there  are  also  other  forms  of  measures,  dry 
measure — quarts,    pecks,   bushels ;     and    liquid 


Objects  used :  Measuring  tapes  or  rules  of  any  kind. 
70 


HOW   GOD   MEASURES   MEN.  7 1 

measure — quarts,  gallons  and  barrels.  There  is 
also  a  standard  of  weight — ounces,  pounds  and 
tons. 

It  is  necessary  to  have  standards  of  weights 
and  measures.  This  is  absolutely  necessary,  or 
we  could  not  tell  in  purchasing  cloth  or  lumber, 
in  buying  sugar  or  molasses,  or  other  things, 
whether  we  are  getting  the  right  quantity,  or 
whether  we  are  not  getting  the  right  quantity. 
So,  everywhere  you  go  in  the  United  States  we 
have  the  same  size  or  standards  of  weights  and 
measures,  and  the  Government  appoints  men  in 
each  city  to  go  about  and  examine  whether  the 
scales  which  the  storekeeper  uses  for  weighing 
sugar,  and  the  measures  which  he  uses  when  he 
sells  vinegar  and  molasses — -whether  these  are 
perfectly  accurate,  as  the  law  requires. 

But,  if  you  look  on  the  other  side  of  this  tape 
measure,  there  is  a  different  standard  of  measure. 
This,  on  the  reverse  side,  is  the  metric  system, 
used  in  France  and  many  other  countries.  If  you 
were  to  go  into  a  store  in  France  and  wanted  to 
purchase  cloth,  you  would  not  ask  for  a  yard,  you 
would  ask  for  a  metre  of  cloth,  which  instead  of 
thirty-six  inches,  which  makes  our  yard,  would 
be  a  little  over  thirty-nine  inches;  so  the  standard 
of  measures  and  values  varies  in  different  countries. 
There  is  a  slight  difference  in  the  length  of  the 


72  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

English  yard  and  the  American  yard.  In  this 
country  we  also  speak  of  dollars  and  cents.  In 
England  they  have  the  penny,  shilling,  pound 
and  the  sovereign.  And  so  in  different  countries 
there  are  different  pieces  of  money,  having  a 
great  variety  of  values. 

I  have  spoken  of  these  things  simply  to  call 
your  attention  to  the  fact  that  God  has  a  stand- 
ard of  measure,  and  a  standard  of  value,  as  well 
as  men.  When  the  Government  enlists  soldiers 
into  the  army  every  man  is  measured,  and  he 
must  be  of  a  given  height;  if  he  is  not  as  tall  as 
the  requirement,  then  he  is  rejected  When  Na- 
poleon chose  his  body-guard  the  men  had  all  to 
be  exceedingly  tall. 

God  also  has  his  standard  of  measure.  He 
does  not  measure  us  according  to  the  height  of 
our  body,  but  according  to  our  moral  character. 
He  measures  us  to  see  whether  we  are  good  or 
bad.  God's  standard  of  the  measure  of  our 
moral  character  is  found  in  the  Bible.  You  will 
find  it,  both  in  the  Old  Testament  and  in  the 
New  Testament.  In  the  Old  Testament  we  have 
the  Ten  Commandments,  in  which  we  are  re- 
quired to  worship  God,  and  to  worship  nothing 
else;  to  keep  the  Sabbath  day  holy;  to  honor  our 
parents ;  and  various  other  requirements.  In  the 
New  Testament  we  have  a  great  many  princi- 


HOW   GOD   MEASURES   MEN.  73 

pies  for  moral  government  which  Jesus  an- 
nounced when  He  was  on  earth. 

We  have  all  broken  some  one  or  more  of  the 
Ten  Commandments  and  the  precepts  which 
Jesus  left  for  us  to  follow.  If  you  desire  to  see 
how  you  should  live  if  you  would  keep  the  law 
perfectly,  you  will  have  to  look  at  the  life  of 
Jesus  Christ.  He  was  the  only  perfect  man  who 
ever  lived.  He  came  to  this  world  to  set  a 
perfect  example  for  men  to  imitate.  Just  the  same 
as  you  copy  after  the  lines  correctly  written  at 
the  top  of  your  writing  book,  so  you  and  I  are  to 
copy  after  the  life  and  character  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  moral  law  is  a  perfect  law  ;  the  Psalmist 
says,  "  the  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting 
the  soul."  I  showed  you  how  in  France  they 
have  a  different  standard  of  measure  from  that 
which  we  have  in  the  United  States,  but  with 
the  moral  law  the  standard  is  the  same  every- 
where and  at  all  times.  If  it  is  wrong  to  lie  or 
steal  in  America,  it  is  equally  wrong  to  lie  or 
steal  in  France,  or  in  Africa,  or  in  India,  or  on 
the  islands  of  the  sea,  or  anywhere  in  all  of  the 
universe.  If  it  is  wicked  now  to  swear,  or  to 
commit  murder,  it  always  was  wicked.  It  was 
just  as  wicked  four  thousand  years  ago  as  it  is 
to-day,  and  it  never  will  be  right  to  take  the 
name  of  God  in  vain,  or  to  destroy  human  Hfe. 


74  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

God  has  but  one  standard  of  morality   for  all 
people  and  for  all  time. 

What  God  requires  of  the  young  in  order  that 
they  may  be  pure  and  holy,  He  requires  the  same 
thing  of  grown-up  people.  If  it  is  wrong  for  the 
preacher  and  the  Sunday-school  superintendent 
to  go  to  the  theatre,  or  to  do  anything  else,  it  is 
equally  wrong  for  every  member  of  the  church  • 
and  for  every  member  of  the  Sunday-school. 
Before  God  we  must  all  be  measured  by  the 
same  standard  of  morality. 

If  I  had  one  year  ago  measured  the  height  of 
each  of  these  young  people  before  me  and  written 
it  down,  and  measured  them  again  to-day,  I  would 
find  that  during  these  twelve  months  they  have 
grown.  They  are  taller  to-day  than  they  were  a 
year  ago.  Now,  God  has  given  us  a  standard  of 
moral  character,  right  and  wrong,  and  I  want  you 
all  to  study  it  very  carefully,  so  that  you  may  see 
how  tall  you  are,  how  far  you  come  short  of  the 
character  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  as  you  grow 
taller  in  body,  so  you  should  grow  in  moral  char- 
acter, and  if  you  will  study  God's  word  carefully, 
you  will  be  able  to  discover  what  progress  you  are 
making  in  becoming  more  like  Christ,  in  becom- 
ing better  boys  and  better  girls,  and  afterward 
better  men  and  better  women,  from  year  to  year, 
than  you  were  each  preceding  year. 


HOW   GOD   MEASURES   MEN.  75 

May  God  bless  you  abundantly,  and  may  you 
grow  daily  *'  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ.  (Eph. 
iv:  13.) 


SEEDS. 

THOUGHTS,  WORDS,  DEEDS — THEIR    LIFE  AND 
PERPETUITY. 

My  young  FRIENDS :  I  have  here  this  morning 
quite  a  variety  of  seeds.  Some  of  them  are  very 
small,  and  some,  as  you  see,  are  quite  large. 
But  each  kind  have  in  them  a  principle  of  Kfe, 
which  makes  them  differ  from  sand,  or  small 
stones  of  similar  size,  because  if  I  plant  these  in 
the  ground  they  will  grow. 

When  you  take  different  kinds  of  seeds  ;  there 
is  one  thing  that  is  very  interesting  about  them. 
It  is  the  different  kinds  of  coverings  in  which 
they  grow.  For  instance,  if  you  take  a  chest- 
nut, it  grows  in  a  burr,  with  sharp  thorny  points  ; 
others  are  folded  as  though  rolled  up  very 
tightly  in  leaves,  as  you  will  find  in  the  hazel 
nut  or  filbert.  Some  seeds  grow  in  rows,  like 
beans  and  peas  in  a  pod.  Some  grow  in  a  very 
soft  bed,  like  cotton  seeds.  Some  grow  im- 
bedded in   a  downy  substance  which  blows  all 


Objects  used  :  Seeds  or  grain  and  fruits  of  any  kind. 
76 


THOUGHTS,   WORDS    AND    DEEDS.  // 

over,  carrying  the  seed  with  it,  like  the  thistle, 
and  the  light  fuzz  of  the  dandelion.  Sometimes 
the  seed  is  buried  in  the  inside  of  fruit,  as  in  the 
case  of  apples,  pears,  peaches,  plums,  and  vari- 
ous other  kinds  of  fruit.  Sometimes  it  is  buried 
beneath  the  beautiful  leaves  of  the  flower.  So 
you  see  there  is  great  variety. 

Now,  these  seeds  may  represent  words.  There 
are  a  great  many  varieties  of  words.  All  words 
have  the  principle  of  life  in  them,  because  they 
express  thought,  and  these  thoughts  when 
received  into  our  minds  develop  into  action. 
Therefore  we  say  that  words  have  a  principle  of 
life  in  them,  and  it  is  important  that  we  should 
be  careful  not  to  permit  bad  words  to  have  a 
place  in  our  minds.  Very  often  you  will  see 
boys  and  girls  reading  worthless  papers,  and 
they  think  that  they  will  do  them  no  injury. 
But  the  fact  is,  that  these  boys  are  influenced  in 
all  their  life  by  that  which  they  read  in  these 
papers.  It  might  be  very  light  and  trifling,  but 
it  tends  to  corrupt  the  mind,  to  give  the  boy 
false  ideas  of  life,  and  it  gives  him  such  opinions 
as  are  not  real,  and  therefore  very  injurious  to 
any  one.  It  is  much  better  that  his  valuable 
time  should  be  spent  in  reading  good  books  and 
good  papers,  and  securing  such  information  as 
will  be  of  value  and  assistance  all  through  life, 


yS  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

For  life  is  a  very  great  struggle,  and  no  boy  can 
afford  to  waste  his  time  in  the  beginning.  If 
he  is  ever  to  amount  to  anything  in  this  world, 
it  is  important  that  he  should  begin  very  early 
in  life. 

I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  another  char- 
acteristic of  these  seeds.  And  that  is  when  a 
single  seed  is  planted,  it  grows  up  and  produces 
a  very  great  number  of  other  seeds.  If  you 
plant  a  seed  of  wheat,  it  will  produce  30,  60, 
or  sometimes  100.  If  you  plant  one  sunflower 
seed,  it  might  produce  as  many  as  4000  seeds. 
If  you  plant  one  single  thistle  seed,  it  has  been 
known  to  produce  as  high  as  24000  seeds  in  a 
single  summer.  If  you  were  to  plant  only  one 
grain  of  corn  and  let  it  grow  until  it  is  ripe,  and 
then  plant  the  seeds  again  that  grew  on  these 
few  ears  of  corn,  and  thus  continue  to  re-plant 
again  and  again,  we  are  told  by  those  who  have 
calculated  it  very  carefully,  that  in  only  five  short 
years  the  amount  of  corn  that  could  be  grown  as 
the  result  of  the  planting  of  the  one  single  seed 
would  be  sufficient  to  plant  a  hill  of  corn,  with 
three  grains  in  every  square  yard,  of  all  the  dry 
land  on  all  this  globe.  In  ten  years  the  product 
would  be  sufficient  to  plant  not  only  this  whole 
world,  but  all  the  planets,  or  worlds  which  circle 
around  our  sun,  and  some  of  them  are  even  a 


THOUGHTS,   WORDS   AND    DEEDS.  79 

thousand  times  larger  than  our  own  globe.  So 
you  see  that  there  is  wonderful  multiplying  pow- 
er in  the  different  kinds  of  grain  which  we  plant. 

So  it  is  with  the  thoughts  and  the  words  which 
we  have  in  our  minds.  Good  thoughts  grow  into 
good  acts,  and  these  acts  influence  others,  just 
as  though  the  same  thought  was  sown  into  their 
minds,  and  then  it  springs  up  into  their  lives  and 
influences  them.  Just  so  when  we  have  read  a 
book,  whether  the  book  is  good  or  bad,  it  goes 
on  reproducing  itself,  over  and  over  again  in 
your  life,  every  time  in  a  multiplied  form.  Sup- 
pose with  your  money  you  send  some  Bibles  to 
the  heathen,  and  as  a  result  a  single  person  is 
converted.  Immediately  that  person  would  in- 
fluence other  heathen  people  whom  he  would 
meet,  and  so,  one  after  the  other,  these  heathen 
would  be  influenced  as  the  result  of  what  you 
have  done.  This  good  influence  would  go  on 
repeating  itself  over  and  over  again,  as  long  as 
the  world  shall  stand,  and  only  in  eternity  would 
the  wonderful  results  of  what  you  have  done  be 
fully  known.  So  it  is  with  all  that  we  say  and 
all  that  we  do;  it  goes  on  repeating  and  multiply- 
ing itself  over  and  over  again. 

Now,  there  is  another  interesting  feature  of 
these  seeds  to  which  I  want  to  call  your  attention. 
And  that  is  that  the  life  in  the  seed  may  continue 


80  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

for  a  very  long  time,  even  hundreds  of  years. 
Over  in  Egypt,  centuries  ago,  they  built  large 
pyramids,  and  when  a  king  died,  instead  of  bury- 
ing his  body  in  the  ground,  they  embalmed  it 
with  spices  and  dried  it,  so  that  it  did  not  decay. 
Then  they  wrapped  it  up  in  cloths,  and  with  these 
cloths  and  bandages  they  sometimes  wrapped 
wheat  or  some  other  kind  of  grain,  and  some  of 
these  mummies,  for  so  they  are  called,  which  have 
been  buried  possibly  twenty-five  hundred  years, 
have  been  found,  and  when  the  wheat  has  been 
taken  out  of  the  hands  of  these  mummies  and 
planted  in  the  ground,  under  favorable  conditions, 
it  has  grown,  just  the  same  as  the  wheat  which 
was  harvested  from  the  fields  only  last  summer. 
The  life  which  was  in  the  seed  had  not  been  de- 
stroyed by  the  many  hundreds  of  years  which 
have  passed  since  it  was  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  mummies. 

A  little  over  fifty  years  ago  there  was  a  very 
interesting  case  of  this  kind  in  England.  At 
Dorchester  they  were  digging  down  some  thirty 
feet  below  the  surface,  and  at  that  depth  they 
came  upon  the  remains  of  the  body  of  a  man, 
with  which  there  had  been  buried  some  coins. 
By  the  date  upon  the  coins,  they  knew  that  this 
body  had  been  buried  at  least  seventeen  hundred 
years.     In  the  stomach  was  found  quite  a  large 


THOUGHTS,  WORDS  AND   DEEDS.  8 1 

quantity  of  raspberry  seeds.  The  man  had  doubt- 
less eaten  a  large  number  of  raspberries,  and  then 
might  have  been  accidentally  killed  very  soon 
afterwards,  so  that  the  seeds  were  not  injured  by 
the  gastric  juices  of  the  stomach.  These  seeds 
were  taken  to  the  Horticultural  Garden,  and 
there  they  were  planted.  What  do  you  think! 
After  seventeen  hundred  years  and  more,  these 
seeds  grew,  and  in  a  short  time  there  was  an 
abundant  fruitage  of  raspberries,  just  the  same  as 
though  the  seeds  had  been  gathered  from  rasp- 
berries which  grew  only  the  year  before. 
Although  hidden  and  seemingly  dead,  yet  these 
seeds  retained  their  life  for  seventeen  hundred 
years  or  more. 

In  this  same  way  there  is  a  deathless  power  in 
the  words  which  we  speak.  Sometimes  parents 
and  Sunday-school  teachers,  and  preachers  also, 
become  discouraged  because  they  do  not  at  once 
see  the  good  results  of  their  labors.  Just  the 
same  as  in  the  case  of  the  seed,  so  in  all  our 
teaching,  and  the  kind  words  we  speak,  and  all 
the  good  deeds  we  do,  there  is  in  them  a  death- 
less power.  Even  though  we  die,  and  are  laid 
away  in  our  graves,  yet  sometime  in  the  lives  of 
those  who  come  after  us,  the  good  we  have  done 
shall  surely  bear  a  fruitage  of  blessing. 


SOWING. 

THE  SPRING  TIME  OF  LIFE. 

My  DEAR  YOUNG  FRIENDS:  This  is  the  most 
pleasant  season  of  the  year;  the  snow  has 
melted,  the  cold  weather  has  passed  away,  and 
now  the  warm  pleasant  days  of  spring  have  come. 
The  trees  are  all  in  blossom,  the  fields  look  beau- 
tiful, and  the  air  is  full  of  sweetness.  If  you  go 
into  the  country  you  will  find  the  farmers  plow- 
ing their  fields,  and  some  are  already  sowing 
grain.  The  spring  wheat  has  already  been  sown, 
the  oat  fields  will  soon  begin  to  look  green,  and 
in  the  course  of  a  couple  of  weeks  the  farmers 
will  be  planting  their  corn. 

It  must  have  been  at  a  corresponding  period 
of  the  year  in  the  East,  when  Jesus  spoke  those 
beautiful  words  which  are  found  in  the  13th 
chapter  of  Matthew,  contained  in  the  parable  of 
the  sower  who  went  out  to  sow.  A  great  multi- 
tude of  people  had  gathered  to  hear  the  words 
which  fell  from  the  lips  of  Jesus.  They  could  no 
longer   gain  admission  into  the  house,  and  so 

Object  used :  Bag,  or  sack,  tied  as  the  farmer  uses  it  when 
sowing  seed. 

82 


THE   SPRING   TIME   OF   LIFE.  83 

Jesus  went  down  by  the  sea,  or  the  large  lake, 
and  getting  into  a  boat  he  pushed  out  just  a 
little  from  the  shore,  so  all  the  people  standing 
along  the  shore  could  see  and  hear  him,  and  then 
he  began  to  preach  to  them.  Just  back  of  them  on 
the  plain  was  a  farmer  who  was  more  intent  upon 
sowing  his  field  than  upon  listening  to  the  words 
of  the  Saviour.  As  Jesus  saw  him  pacing  to  and 
fro  across  the  field,  scattering  the  grain  in  the 
furrows,  Jesus  very  likely  pointed  to  him,  calling 
the  attention  of  the  multitude  to  what  he  was 
doing,  and  said  to  the  people,  "Behold  a  sower 
went  forth  to  sow,"  and  then  called  the  attention 
of  the  people  to  the  character  of  the  soil  in  the 
different  places  where  the  seed  fell. 

I  have  here  a  sack,  something  like  the  farmers 
use  in  the  country,  although  many  farmers  now 
sow  their  grain  with  a  machine  called  a  drill. 
With  this  sack  suspended  about  the  neck,  in  this 
way,  the  farmer  reaches  in  and  takes  out  a  small 
handful  of  seed,  and  then  swinging  his  hand, 
throws  the  seed  over  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
ground.  Thus  he  walks  from  one  end  of  the  field 
to  the  other,  sowing  the  seed,  until  he  has  the 
entire  field  sown  and  ready  for  the  men  who  fol- 
low with  the  harrow,  which  covers  up  the  grain. 

Well,  boys  and  girls,  this  is  the  spring-time  of 
hfe  with  you.     These  are  the  pleasant  days  and 


84  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

years  of  your  life.  You  have  very  little  care. 
Yet  it  is,  nevertheless,  the  spring-time.  You  are 
now  making  the  preparations  which  will  tell  what 
is  to  be  the  harvest  in  the  later  years  of  your 
lives.  As  the  farmer  goes  out  and  plows  the 
field,  so  by  discipline  and  by  counsel,  and  by  in- 
struction are  your  parents  preparing  your  minds 
and  hearts,  that  in  after  years  you  may  enjoy  a 
harvest  of  great  blessing. 

In  the  spring-time  of  life,  when  young  persons 
are  to  do  the  sowing,  they  need  much  careful 
counsel  and  instruction.  I  suppose  that  there  are 
many  here  who,  if  they  were  to  go  into  the  coun- 
try, could  not  tell  the  difference  between  wheat 
and  barley,  or  oats  and  rye.  Some  might  not 
even  be  able  to  distinguish  between  oats  and 
buckwheat.  If  the  farmer  were  to  send  you  out 
to  sow,  you  would,  most  likely,  sow  the  wrong 
kind  of  grain.  In  the  same  manner,  it  is  im- 
portant that  you  should  be  directed  by  your 
parents,  because  they  can  distinguish  between 
right  and  wrong.  They  know  what  you  should 
do,  and  what  you  should  not  do.  Therefore  it  is 
important  that  they  should  direct  you  in  the 
spring-time,  less  you  should  sow  the  wrong  kind 
of  grain.  And  you  know  the  Bible  says :  "  What- 
soever a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap." 

It  is  not   only  difficult  for  those  who   have 


THE  SPRING  TIME   OF   LIFE.  85 

never  seen  something  of  life  in  the  country,  to 
distinguish  between  the  different  kinds  of  grain 
which  the  farmer  sows,  but  even  after  the  grain 
begins  to  grow,  it  is  sometimes  difficult,  even  for 
those  who  are  familiar  with  country  life,  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  true  and  the  false.  In  that 
same  thirteenth  chapter  of  the  gospel  by  St. 
Matthew,  to  which  I  refer  in  the  beginning, 
Jesus  tells  of  a  farmer  who  sowed  his  field  with 
wheat,  and  while  he  slept  an  enemy  came  and 
sowed  tares.  Of  course  he  could  not  discover 
this  until  the  grain  began  to  grow.  When  it 
began  to  get  ripe,  then  for  the  first  could  he 
distinguish  between  the  stalks  of  the  wheat  and 
the  stalks  of  the  tares.  By  doing  this  wicked 
thing  the  enemy  gave  the  farmer  a  great  deal  of 
trouble.  Just  so  it  is  with  you  when  you  have 
tried  to  do  right,  Satan  comes  and  puts  evil 
thoughts  and  wicked  purposes  into  your  minds, 
and  then  if  you  permit  these  to  grow  up,  you 
will  find  that  they  will  give  you  a  great  deal  of 
trouble.  It  is  important  that  only  the  good  seed 
should  be  sown  in  the  field  of  your  heart,  and  in 
the  field  of  your  mind,  so  that  you  may  have  a 
fruitage  that  shall  be  wholly  good. 

Sometimes  you  see  boys  and  girls  who  are 
doing  things  which  you  would  like  to  do,  but 
your  mother  and  father  tell  you  that  you  should 


86  OBJECT   SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

not.  You  may  not  be  pleased  because  you  are 
restrained  from  doing  what  you  would  like. 

I  well  remember  how  my  father,  when  I  was  a 
boy,  oftentimes  use  to  restrain  me  from  doing 
what  I  saw  other  boys  doing.  I  used  to  think, 
at  that  time,  that  he  was  not  considerate,  and 
possibly  not  kind  to  me.  But  now  that  I  have 
grown  older,  and  have  seen  the  results  which 
have  come  to  these  boys,  some  of  whom  have 
gone  as1:ray,  and  others  who  have  turned  out 
badly  in  life,  I  see  how  wise  my  father  was. 
And  when  I  visit  his  grave,  I  feel  like  bowing 
my  head  and  thanking  God  that  he  gave  me  a 
father  who  was  so  wise,  and  so  kind,  and  so  con- 
siderate. Although  I  did  not  feel  at  the  time  that 
he  was  doing  that  which  was  for  my  good ;  but 
now  I  see  it  all  very  plainly. 

In  closing  let  me  say  to  you,  do  as  Isaiah  sug- 
gested, "Sow  by  the  side  of  all  waters."  That 
is,  be  very  diligent,  that  day  by  day  you  may 
do  some  kind  act,  which  will  hereafter  spring  up 
into  a  fruitage  of  very  great  good.  The  Bible 
enjoins  upon  both  young  and  old  to  be  very  dili- 
gent in  this  work,  for  it  says,  "  In  the  morning 
sow  thy  seed,  and  in  the  evening  withhold  not 
thine  hand ;  for  thou  knowest  not  whether  shall 
prosper,  either  this  or  that,  or  whether  they  both 
shall  be  alike  good."     (Eccl.  xi :  6.) 


REAPING. 

THE   HARVEST   TIME    OF   LIFE. 

My  dear  LITTLE  HARVESTERS :  Last  Sunday  I 
talked  to  you  of  spring-time — the  spring-time  of 
the  year,  and  the  spring-time  of  life.  To-day 
I  have  brought  a  small  sheaf  of  grain ;  this  tells 
us  of  the  harvest-time.  The  spring-time  is  very 
pleasant,  the  air  is  fragrant,  the  birds  are  singing, 
and  all  nature  seems  to  be  rejoicing  in  its  fresh- 
ness and  beauty.  The  world  looks  just  as  new 
and  beautiful  as  it  did  thousands  and  thousands 
of  years  ago.    Each  spring  it  puts  on  youth  anew. 

But  when  the  summer-time  comes,  when  it 
gets  along  to  the  harvest-time,  along  in  July  and 
August,  then  the  weather  is  very  warm.  The 
color  of  the  fields  has  then  greatly  changed,  the 
blossoms  have  disappeared  from  the  trees,  and 
we  find  that  everywhere  the  fruit  is  beginning  to 
appear.  The  harvest  fields  are  ripe  and  are  wait- 
ing for  the  husbandmen. 

There  is  just  about  that  same  difference  in  life. 
Youth  is  the  spring-time.     It  is  full  of  hope,  and 


Object  used :    A  small  sheaf  of  grain. 
87  . 


88  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

full  of  bright  prospects.  But,  as  we  grow  older, 
and  cares  and  responsibilities  of  life  multiply, 
then  we  begin  to  bear  the  toil  and  labor  which 
comes  with  the  later  years.  Then  we  are  like 
the  farmer  who  enters  into  the  harvest  field, 
where  hard  work  has  to  be  done  under  a  very 
hot  and  scorching  sun. 

You  will  remember  that  in  one  of  the  object 
sermons  I  told  you  how  a  man  who  had  given 
his  time  to  the  study  of  plants,  had  discovered 
nearly  one  hundred  thousand  different  kinds  of 
plants.  Each  kind  bears  its  own  seed,  and 
when  that  particular  seed  is  sown,  it  always  bears 
its  own  kind  of  fruit.  Wheat  never  yields  barley, 
nor  does  oats  ever  yield  buckwheat.  When  you 
plant  potatoes  you  expect  to  gather  potatoes,  and 
not  turnips.  An  apple  tree  has  never  grown  from 
an  acorn,  or  a  peach  tree  from  a  chestnut.  Each 
seed,  always  and  everywhere,  bears  its  own  kind. 
It  is  on  this  account  that  the  Bible  says,  "  be  not 
deceived;  God  is  not  mocked:  for  whatsoever 
a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  alsO  reap."  (Gal.,  6:  7). 

There  are  some  parents,  as  well  as  children, 
who  think  that  they  can  do  very  wrong  things 
while  they  are  young,  and  afterwards  suffer  no  bad 
results.  People  sometime  say,  *'  Oh,  well !  let  us 
sow  our  wild  oats  while  we  are  young."  Now 
the  Bible  tells  us  that  if  we  sow  wild  oats,  we 


THE    HARVEST   TIME    OF    LIFE.  89 

must  reap  wild  oats.  Four  or  five  handfuls  of 
wild  oats  will  produce  a  whole  bag  full  of  wild 
oats  when  gathered  in  the  harvest  of  after  life. 
Be  assured,  my  dear  friends,  that  "those  who' 
sow  to  the  flesh  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption ," 
and  "  those  who  sow  the  wind  shall  reap  the 
whirlwind."  **  Sow  and  act,  and  you  reap  a 
habit.  Sow  a  habit,  and  you  reap  a  character. 
Sow  a  character,  and  you  reap  a  destiny." 

It  may  seem  a  long  period  between  the  spring 
and  the  harvest  time  of  life ;  but  be  assured,  my 
dear  young  friends,  that  these  years  will  speedily 
pass,  and  before  you  are  aware  of  it,  you  will  be 
men  and  women,  with  all  the  responsibilities  of 
life  upon  you,  and  then  you  will  be  sure  to  reap 
the  reward  of  what  you  do  now  while  you  are 
boys  and  girls.  Lord  Bacon  said  that  "  nature 
owes  us  many  a  debt  until  we  are  old,"  but 
nature  is  always  sure  to  pay  its  debts.  The 
ancients  had  an  adage  that  said,  "Justice  travels 
with  a  sore  foot,"  but  it  usually  overtakes  a  man. 

A  few  Sundays  ago  I  told  you  that  as  the  re- 
sult of  planting  a  single  grain  of  corn,  a  fruitage 
sufficient  to  plant  the  entire  globe  might  be  se- 
cured in  only  five  years.  It  is  told  us  by  histor- 
ians that,  in  olden  times,  the  harvest  in  Egypt 
and  Syria  would  return  a  hundred  fold  for  one, 
and  in  Babylonia  oftentimes  two  hundred  fold 


90  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

for  one.  Now,  if  a  single  grain  of  wheat  was 
planted  in  soil  as  fertile  as  that  of  Egypt,  at  the 
end  of  eight  years  of  sowing  and  reaping,  if  we 
had  a  field  large  enough,  the  product  would  be  suf- 
ficient to  feed  all  the  families  of  the  earth  for 
more  than  a  year  and  a  half  But  if  we  were  to 
undertake  to  plant  one  grain  of  wheat  in  this 
way,  after  a  few  years  we  would  fill  all  the  fields 
which  would  be  suited  for  a  wheat  harvest.  Down 
near  the  equator  it  would  be  too  hot  for  the 
wheat  to  grow  successfully.  In  the  north  it 
would  be  altogether  too  cold.  On  the  mountain 
side  the  soil  is  not  fertile,  and  oftentimes  is  very 
rocky.  For  these,  and  various  other  reasons,  it 
would  be  impossible  to  cover  any  large  portion 
of  the  globe  with  wheat,  for  it  would  be  unsuited 
to  produce  a  harvest.  Were  it  not  for  this  fact, 
in  the  course  of  seven  or  eight  years,  the  entire 
earth  might  be  made  to  wave  as  one  vast  field  of 
wheat. 

But  there  is  one  truth  which  God  has  planted 
in  this  world.  That  truth  is  God's  love  mani- 
fested in  the  gift  of  His  Son  Jesus  Christ  for  the 
salvation  of  all  mankind.  This  truth  is  suited  to 
every  age  of  the  world,  to  every  nation  of  the 
earth,  to  all  classes  and  all  conditions  of  people, 
and  to  every  human  heart.  During  the  past  cen- 
turies men  have  been  planting  and  replanting  this 


THE   HARVEST   TIME    OF   LIFE.  9 1 

seed  of  divine  truth,  sowing  and  resowing  the 
the  earth  with  it,  gathering  and  reaping  the  har- 
vest and  sowing  grain,  and  the  days  are  coming 
when  all  the  earth  shall  wave  as  one  vast  harvest 
field,  waiting  for  the  reapers  of  God,  who  shall 
gather  this  blessed  fruitage  into  the  garner  of  the 
skies. 

It  is  your  privilege  and  my  privilege,  both  one 
and  all,  to  have  some  part  in  this  glorious  work, 
and  the  Scriptures  assure  us  that  "he  that  goeth 
forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious  seeds,  shall 
doubtless  come  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing 
his  sheaves  with  him."     (Psalms,  cxxvi :  6.) 

AFTERWARD. 

ANONYMOUS. 

Now,  the  sowing  and  the  reaping. 

Working  hard  and  waiting  long; 
Afterward,  the  golden  reaping. 

Harvest  home  and  grateful  song. 

Now,  the  pruning,  sharp,  unsparing, 
Scattered  blossom,  bleeding  shoot; 

Afterv/ard,  the  plenteous  bearing 
Of  the  Master's  pleasant  fruit. 

Now,  the  plunge,  the  briny  burden, 

Blind,  faint  gropings  in  the  sea ; 
Afterward,  the  pearly  guerdon. 

That  shall  make  the  diver  free. 


92  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

Now,  the  long  and  toilsome  duty, 
Stone  by  stone  to  carve  and  bring; 

Afterward,  the  perfect  beauty 
Of  the  palace  of  the  king. 

Now,  the  tuning  and  the  tension, 
Wailing  minors,  discord  strong ; 

Afterward,  the  grand  ascension 
Of  the  Allelulia  song. 

Now,  the  spirit  conflict-riven. 
Wounded  heart,  unequal  strife ; 

Afterward,  the  triumph  given. 
And  the  victor's  crown  of  life. 

Now,  the  training  strange  and  lowly. 
Unexplained  and  tedious  nov^  ; 

Afterward,  the  service  holy, 

And  the  Master's  "Enter  thoul" 


WHEAT  AND  CHAFF. 

THE  COMING  SEPARATION. 

My  young  friends  :  You  will  understand  what 
I  have  done  and  the  significance  of  it  when  I 
when  I  have  read  for  you  the  first  Psalm. 

"  Blessed  is  the  man  that  walketh  not  in  the 
counsel  of  the  ungodly,  nor  standeth  in  the  way 
of  sinners,  nor  sitteth  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful; 
but  his  delight  is  in  the  law  of  the  Lord ;  and  in 
His  law  doth  he  meditate  day  and  night;  and  he 
shall  be  like  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of 
water,  that  bringeth  forth  his  fruit  in  his  season; 
his  leaves  shall  not  wither ;  and  whatsoever  he 
doeth  shall  prosper. 

"The  ungodly  are  not  so;  but  are  like  the  chaff 
which   the   wind   driveth   away;    therefore   the 


Object  used  :  A  handfull  of  grain  and  chaff. 

(The  speaker  stepped  to  the  front  of  the  platform  and  taking 
a  handful  of  wheat  and  chaft  from  his  pocket,  poured  the  same 
from  one  hand  to  the  other,  and  at  the  same  time  gently  blowed 
the  chaff,  separating  it  from  the  wheat.  By  turning  it  in 
this  manner  once  or  twice,  and  blowing  at  the  same  time,  the 
chaff  was  entirely  separated  from  the  wheat.) 

93 


94  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

ungodly  shall  not  stand  in  the  judgment,  nor  sin- 
ners in  the  congregation  of  the  righteous  ;  for  the 
Lord  knoweth  the  way  of  the  righteous ;  but  the 
way  of  the  ungodly  shall  perish." 

We  find  in  this  Psalm  how  the  righteous  are 
set  forth,  and  how  the  ungodly  are  compared  to 
chaff,  such  as  I  have  blown  from  my  hand,  and 
separated  from  the  wheat.  John  the  Baptist 
said  of  Jesus,  *'  Whose  fan  is  in  His  hand,  and 
He  will  thoroughly  purge  His  floor  and  gather 
His  wheat  into  the  garner ;  but  He  will  burn  up 
the  chaff  with  unquenchable  fire." 

Now,  when  you  have  been  in  the  country,  you 
have  observed  the  wheat  growing  in  the  field.  If 
you  had  been  careful  to  examine  it,  you  would 
have  found  that  while  the  wheat  is  growing  it  is 
enclosed  in  the  chaff,  just  the  same  as  the  corn 
is  enclosed  by  the  husks  which  grow  about  it. 
So  it  is  with  us ;  while  we  are  in  this  world,  there 
are  many  things  which  are  essential  to  our 
growth  and  well-being.  They  minister  to  our 
physical  needs  and  supply  our  temporal  wants. 
Although  we  cannot  wholly  dispense  with  these 
things  while  we  are  in  this  world,  yet  they  are 
not  the  sole  object  of  our  living.  The  wheat 
does  not  exist  for  the  chaff,  or  the  husks  in  which 
it  is  enclosed,  but  the  husks  exist  for  the  wheat 

After  a  time,  when  the  harvest  comes,  the  far- 


THE   COMING  SEPARATION.  95 

mer  enters  the  field  and  cuts  down  the  wheat,  and 
it  is  then  taken  to  the  barn  or  threshing  floor. 
Years  ago,  when  I  was  a  boy,  farmers  used  to 
spend  a  large  portion  of  the  winter  in  threshing 
grain.  They  would  spread  it  out  upon  the  floor 
of  the  barn  and  beat  it  with  a  heavy  stick,  which 
was  tied  so  as  to  swing  easily  at  the  end  of  a 
long  handle.  This  was  called  a  flail.  Machines 
for  threshing  grain  were  not  then  common,  as 
they  are  to-day.  When  the  farmer  threshes  his 
grain,  he  does  not  do  it  to  destroy  the  wheat, 
but  simply  to  separate  it  from  the  chaff. 

The  Bible  tells  us  that  we  must  through  much 
tribulation  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  And 
do  you  know  that  the  word  tribulation  comes  from 
a  Latin  word  tribuluin,  which  means  a  flail  ?  So 
the  teaching  of  this  passage  of  Scripture  is,  that 
God  places  you  and  me  under  the  flail,  and 
smites  again  and  again,  in  order  that  the  noblest, 
best  and  most  Christ-like  in  us  may  be  separated 
by  trials  and  tribulations  from  that  which  is 
worthless  and  which  needs  to  be  cast  off  in  order 
that  just  as  the  farmer  gathers  the  wheat  into  his 
garner,  or  granary  here  on  earth,  so  God  may 
gather  us  eventually  into  His  garner  above. 

Boys  and  girls  oftentimes  have  tribulations  in 
this  world,  just  the  same  as  older  people.  Dis- 
appointments come    to    them,  and    because  of 


96  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

ambitions  which  are  not  lawful  or  right,  purposes 
which  are  not  in  harmony  with  God's  word  and 
with  God's  will,  because  of  needed  discipline,  or 
for  some  good  reason,  by  sorrows,  disappoint- 
ments and  trials,  God  is  tribulating  them,  and 
making  them  better  by  means  of  the  experiences 
through  which  they  are  called  upon  to  pass. 

If  you  have  been  with  the  farmer  in  his  barn 
after  he  is  through  with  the  threshing,  you  have 
seen  him  take  the  fanning-mill,  and  perhaps  you 
have  turned  the  crank  for  him,  while  he  has 
slowly  shoveled  the  grain  into  the  mill  and  the 
chaff  was  being  blown  away  by  the  wind  set  in 
motion  by  the  revolution  of  the  large  fanning 
wheel.  In  the  olden  times  they  did  not  have 
fanning-mills,  but  when  the  farmer  desired  to 
separate  the  chaff  from  the  wheat,  he  did  it  with 
a  fan.  He  poured  the  grain  from  one  basket  or 
box,  or  some  other  receptacle,  into  another  while 
the  wind  was  blowing,  or  else  used  a  fan  to 
create  a  draught  of  wind  to  blow  the  chaff,  and 
thus  separate  it  from  the  wheat,  and  it  is  that  to 
which  John  the  Baptist  refers.  He  says,  con- 
cerning Christ,  «*  Whose  fan  is  in  His  hand,  and 
He  wnll  thoroughly  purge  His  floor,  and  gather 
the  wheat  into  His  garner ;  but  He  will  burn  up 
the  chaff  with  unquenchable  fire."  (  Matthew, 
iii:  12.) 


THE   COMING  SEPARATION.  9/ 

So  God  designs  to  separate  from  your  charac- 
ter, and  from  mine,  that  which  is  worldly  and 
temporal,  and  so  far  as  eternity  is  concerned, 
worthless.  Take  money  as  an  illustration.  Now 
money  is  essential,  and  it  is  v/ell  that  we  should 
be  willing  to  work  hard  for  it,  and  that  we 
should  be  economical  in  its  use,  and  seek  to 
save  our  money,  so  that  we  may  use  it  for  good 
purposes,  and  that  it  may  be  helpful  to  us  in  old 
age.  Money  serves  a  very  excellent  purpose 
while  we  are  upon  earth,  but  God  does  not  mean 
that  we  should  make  it  the  chief  aim  of  our  life, 
and  therefore,  to  divert  our  minds  from  money  in 
one  way  or  another,  financial  reverses  and  fail- 
ures sometimes  come,  and  thus  God  seeks  to 
separate  the  man  from  the  money.  We  all  came 
into  this  world  empty-handed,  and  we  must  go 
out  of  it  empty-handed.  Even  though  we  were 
worth  ten  millions  of  dollars  we  could  take  no 
money  with  us.  You  might  place  it  in  the  cof- 
fin and  bury  it  with  a  dead  body,  but  it  would 
not  and  could  not  go  into  eternity  with  the  man. 

Now,  after  the  farmer  has  separated  the  chaff 
from  the  wheat,  he  gathers  the  wheat  into  his 
garner,  or  into  his  granary,  and  so,  after  God  has 
separated  from  our  nature  and  character  all  that 
which  is  of  no  use,  which  is  simply  earthy.  He  will 
gather  our  souls  into  heaven,  His  garner  above. 


98  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

While  we  live  upon  the  earth  we  should  use 
this  world  as  not  abusing  it;  remembering 
that  finally  we  must  go  and  leave  everything 
behind  us,  and  that  we  can  take  nothing  with 
us  into  eternity,  except  the  characters  which  we 
formed  here.  Wealth  and  reputation,  and  all 
worldly  things  will  have  to  be  left  behind  us ; 
but  character,  that  which  you  and  I  really  are, 
shall  never  pass  away,  but  shall  enter  into  an 
eternal  state  of  being  on  high.  All  these  earthly 
things  are  the  mere  chaff,  while  character  is  our 
real  selves. 


WAYSIDE  WEEDS  AND  GARDEN 
FLOWERS. 

NEGLECTED  VERSUS  CHRISTIAN  CHILDREN. 

The  land  of  Palestine,  in  which  Jesus  lived,  has 
always  been  noted  for  its  flowers.  They  grow 
everywhere  in  great  abundance,  and  oftentimes 
in  very  great  perfection  and  beauty.  One  time, 
when  Jesus  was  preaching  on  the  mountain,  He 
used  the  flowers  which  were  growing  on  the  side 
of  the  mountain,  to  preach  an  object  sermon  to 
the  multitudes  about  Him.  He  said,  "  Consider 
the  Hlies  of  the  field  ;  how  they  grow ;  they  toil 
not,  neither  do  they  spin,  and  yet  I  say  unto  you 
that  Solomon,  in  all  his  glory,  was  not  arrayed 
like  one  of  these."  (Matt,  vi :  28,  29).  Let  us 
this  morning  take  the  same  object  lesson,  to  set 
forth  to  our  minds  a  clearer  understanding  of 
some  truths,  which  are  very  important  to  every 
father  and  mother,  as  well  as  every  boy  and  girl 
present. 

As  you  see,  I  have  here  two  bouquets.  This, 
which  I  now  hold  in  my  hand,  is  indeed  very 

Objects  used ;  A  bouquet  of  flowers  and  a  bouquet  of  weeds. 
99 


100  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

beautiful.  Here  are  some  lovely  roses,  some 
tulips,  some  peonies.  Here  is  a  dahlia  and  hel- 
iotrope. Here  are  some  tube  roses,  and  a  great 
variety  of  other  flowers,  which  together  consti- 
tute a  very  beautiful  bouquet. 

Now,  here  is  another  bouquet.  I  see  you  smile, 
but  indeed  it  is  a  bouquet.  I  spent  a  great  deal 
of  time  gathering  these  flowers,  at  which  you 
laugh.  I  sought  them  in  such  places  as  would 
afford  the  best  varieties  of  these  several  kinds. 

Now,  boys  and  girls,  I  want  to  ask  you  where 
these  flowers  grew  ?  I  will  hold  up  this  beautiful 
bouquet  and  ask  the  question.  I  know  what  will 
be  your  answer ;  you  will  say  that  I  bought  it 
from  a  man  who  keeps  a  hot-house,  or  that  I  gath- 
ered them  in  some  flower  garden  which  was  very 
carefully  tended;  and  such,  indeed,  is  the  case. 

Now,  I  will  hold  up  this  other  bouquet.  Can 
you  tell  me  where  I  gathered  these?  I  did 
not  think  that  you  would  have  much  difficulty  in 
determining.  I  gathered  them  along  the  road- 
side, in  the  flelds  and  in  the  woods.  These 
flowers  are  what  the  farmer  calls  "  weeds."  Here 
is  a  rose  with  a  single  leaf  that  grew  in  a 
neglected  corner,  along  the  outskirts  of  a  woods. 
It  is  a  genuine  rose,  but  it  is  by  no  means  pretty, 
or  at  all  to  be  compared  with  those  in  the  other 
bouquet. 


NEGLECTED    VS.    CHRISTIAN    CHILDREN.        lOI 

I  will  tell  you  why  there  Is  such  a  difference 
in  the  appearance  of  these  two  bouquets.  One 
grew  in  the  garden,  where  it  was  protected  by  a 
fence  from  being  trampled  upon.  The  weeds  that 
grew  about  it  were  all  pulled  out  of  the  ground, 
and  the  stalk  upon  which  this  flower  grew  was 
given  a  fair  chance,  so  that  it  might  grow  suc- 
cessfully. The  roots  of  the  plants  were  carefully 
nourished,  and  whenever  there  was  not  sufficient  ' 
rain  the  flowers  were  all  watered,  and  thus  the 
plants  and  flowers  grew  to  their  greatest  per- 
fection and  beauty. 

Now,  these  other  flowers  which  I  gathered  in 
the  fields  and  along  the  roadside  and  in  the 
woods,  have  had  a  hard  time  of  it.  In  their 
growth  they  had  to  contend  with  other  weeds. 
They  have  been  trampled  upon  by  the  cattle. 
They  have  been  scorched  by  the  sun.  And  year 
after  year  they  have  grown  in  these  neglected 
quarters  with  great  difficulty,  consequently  they 
are  stunted  and  have  never  attained  any  perfec- 
tion or  beauty. 

Do  you  know  that  these  very  beautiful  flowers 
in  this  bouquet  at  one  time  grew  just  the  same  as 
the  flowers  in  the  other  bouquet?  But  they  were 
removed  from  the  roadside,  and  from  the  fields  and 
from  the  woods,  and  placed  by  themselves  where 
they  could  be  properly  cared  for  and  cultivated, 


I02  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

and  they  grew  more  beautiful  from  year  to  year, 
until  we  have  this  present  satisfactory  result. 

Boys  and  girls  are  very  much  like  flowers. 
Those  who  are  neglected,  who  are  permitted  to 
walk  the  streets,  to  stroll  along  the  roads  and 
over  the  fields,  to  go  along  the  streams  fishing  on 
Sunday,  instead  of  being  in  Sunday-school  and 
in  church,  those  who  are  permitted  to  run  out  at 
nights  and  play  with  all  kinds  of  company — these 
are  the  boys  and  girls  who  are  like  the  flowers 
which  grow  by  the  roadside.  Nothing  very 
beautiful,  or  very  good,  or  very  perfect  can  rea- 
sonably be  expected  from  them. 

This  beautiful  bouquet  represents  those  boys 
and  girls  who  have  Christian  fathers  and  mothers, 
who  surround  them  by  influences  which  are 
well  calculated  to  make  them  pure  in  thought 
and  upright  in  life,  so  that  they  may  grow  up  to 
be  good  Christian  men  and  women.  These 
flowers  represent  the  boys  and  girls  who  grow 
up  in  the  Sunday-schoct  and  in  the  Church,  who 
give  their  hearts  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
grow  up  into  His  likeness,  and  into  His  image, 
and  into  His  stature,  and  become  noble  Christian 
men  and  women. 

When  parents  permit  their  children  to  run 
wild,  they  cannot  expect  them  to  grow  up  Chris- 
tians.    It  is  only  by  culture  and  education  and 


NEGLECTED   VS.    CHRISTIAN    CHILDREN.        IO3 

Christian  influences  that  they  can  be  improved, 
so  as  to  become  honorable  and  upright. 

Nearly  all  the  products  of  the  field  have  been 
improved  by  cultivation,  just  the  same  as  these 
flowers  have  been  improved.  Wheat  in  its 
native  state,  as  it  may  still  be  found  in  France 
and  Italy  along  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean, 
was  a  stunted  and  straggling  plant,  with  a  small 
and  inferior  seed,  but  after  long  years  of  patient 
and  continued  cultivation,  it  has  grown  to  its 
present  plump  and  prolific  proportions.  All  the 
beautiful  fruits  which  now  grow  in  our  orchards 
were  at  one  time  unsightly  and  undesirable. 
The  apple  was  small  and  sour,  and  unpalatable  ; 
but  by  pruning  and  grafting  and  fertilizing,  it 
has  grown  to  be  not  only  beautiful  to  the  eye, 
but  delicious  to  the  taste-  The  acrid  and  un- 
wholesome berries,  which  formerly  grew  on  the 
mountain  ash,  have  been  developed  into  the 
sweet  and  juicy  pear.  By  cultivation,  the  acrid 
and  bitter  sloe  has  grown  into  the  beautiful 
plum.  The  same  is  also  true  of  the  potato,  the 
turnip  and  the  cabbage. 

Boys  and  girls  can  only  be  developed  into 
useful  men  and  women  by  the  influence  of  the 
week-day  and  Sunday-school,  the  Christian  home 
and  the  Church,  by  reading  and  studying  the 
Bible  and  other  good  books. 


FLOWERS. 
god's  wisdom  displayed  in  their  creation. 

My  dear  young  friends  :  Last  Sunday  I  talked 
to  you  about  the  difference  between  the  flowers 
that  grow  in  the  garden,  and  those  which  grow 
in  the  fields  ;  about  the  difference  in  the  beauty 
of  cultivated  plants,  and  those  that  grow  wild. 

At  this  season  of  the  year  flowers  are  very 
abundant,  and  in  order  that  we  may  be  fre- 
quently reminded  of  the  lessons  which  these 
flowers  teach  us,  I  have  chosen,  this  morning,  to 
speak  to  you  of  God's  wisdom  displayed  in  the 
flowers.  If  in  nothing  else  was  the  wisdom  of 
God  displayed  to  us,  and  if  in  no  other  way  had 
we  ever  been  permitted  to  learn  that  there  is  a 
God,  a  Creator  of  all  things,  I  am  sure  that 
the  careful  study  of  these  beautiful  flowers  such 
as  I  hold  in  my  hand,  would  reveal  to  us  the 
fact  that  some  infinite  and  all-wise  Being  must 
have  created  them. 

Jesus  said  that  "Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was 
not  arrayed  like  one  of  these."  (Matt,  vi:  29). 
If  you  were  to  take  the  finest  robe  that  any  king 


Object  used  :  A  bouquet  of  flowers. 

JO/I 


FLOWERS   DISPLAY   GOD's   WISDOM.  IO5 

or  queen  ever  wore,  and  place  it  under  the  mag- 
nifying power  of  a  microscope,  it  would  at  once 
appear  very,  very  coarse,  almost  like  strings  or 
ropes,  and  the  more  you  would  magnify  or  en- 
large it,  the  worse  it  would  look.  But  if  you 
would  take  the  microscope  and  inspect  the  lily, 
the  more  you  magnify  it,  the  more  do  you  be- 
hold its  exquisite  beauty  and  perfection. 

God  also  displays  his  wisdom  in  the  beautiful 
colors  with  which  He  has  painted  and  tinted  the 
flowers.  It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  some 
colors  absorb  more  of  the  warmth  of  the  sun 
than  others.  A  white  surface  reflects  the  heat, 
instead  of  absorbing  it,  and  therefore  remains 
cooler.  A  dark  colored  object  will  absorb  part 
of  the  heat  and  reflect  part,  and  consequently 
remain  colder  than  a  perfectly  black  surface, 
which  will  absorb  all  the  rays,  and  consequently 
all  the  heat  which  comes  in  the  rays  from  the 
sun.  It  is  on  this  account  that  to  the  snow- 
white  lily  God  has  given  one  color,  and  to  the 
intensely  radiant  dahlia,  God  has  given  another 
color.  In  order  that  the  temperature  may  be 
suited  to  the  needs  of  each,  God  has  given  a 
great  variety  of  colors  to  the  flowers.  The  rose  he 
has  made  a  blushing  red,  the  lily  and  the 
japonica  snowy  white,  the  violet  a  delicate  blue, 
the  crocus  a  bright  and  cheerful  yellow,  the  tulip 


I06  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

variegated,  to  the  hyacinth  God  has  given  a 
great  variety  of  colors  and  to  the  geraniums  and 
fuchsias  a  deep  scarlet.  So  God  has  suited  the 
color  to  the  needs  of  each. 

When  we  speak  of  the  lily,  we  understand 
what  kind  of  a  flower  is  meant.  But  it  is  sup- 
posed by  some  that  when  Jesus  said,  "  consider 
the  lilies,"  He  referred,  not  to  one  particular 
flow*er,  but  to  flowers  of  all  kinds,  and  therefore 
if  we  adopt  that  idea,  the  text  would  read :  *'  Con- 
sider the  flowers  of  the  field,  for  they  toil  not, 
neither  do  they  spin ;  and  yet  I  say  unto  you, 
that  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed 
like  one  of  these."  (Matt,  6:  28,  29.) 

Now,  if  we  consider  the  number  and  variety  of 
the  flowers,  we  are  again  impressed  with  the 
wisdom  of  God,  A  man  by  the  name  of  Lin- 
naeus, who  has  been  called  the  father  of  botony, 
which  is  the  study  of  flowers,  reckoned,  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  that  there  were 
8,000  different  kinds  of  plants.  But  about  one 
hundred  years  after  him,  a  noted  botanist  (M. 
de  Candolle)  in  Geneva,  Switzerland,  described 
40,000  kinds  of  plants,  and  the  more  he  studied 
the  more  the  number  increased,  until  at  last  he 
had  80,000,  and  it  is  now  rapidly  approaching 
100,000  different  varieties  of  plants  which  we 
know  of  all  the  kinds  which  God  has  created. 


FLOWERS   DISPLAY    GOD'S   WISDOM.  lO/ 

But  if  from  all  this  100,000  plants  we  were  to  take 
but  one  single  illustration,  as  for  instance,  this 
rose,  with  which  we  are  better  acquainted  than 
with  the  other  flowers,  when  we  begin  to  invest- 
tigate  we  find  that  there  are  at  least  600  varieties 
of  this  one  very  beautiful  flower.  And  then  if 
you  were  to  gather  all  the  roses  that  grew  on  the 
stalks  of  the  same  variety,  you  would  not  find 
any  two  of  the  roses  that  would  be  exactly  alike 
in  every  particular.  Thus  you  see  how  these 
flowers,  by  their  almost  infinite  variety,  teach  us 
the  wonderful  wisdom  of  God. 

Thus  you  see  how  God  has  filled  the  world 
with  an  almost  infinite  variety  of  very  wonderful 
things.  And  whether  you  take  the  magnifying 
power  of  the  microscope  and  enlarge  little  things, 
or  whether  you  take  the  telescope  and  look  away 
into  the  heavens  and  magnify  the  great  creations 
which  are  there,  everywhere,  both  in  the  heavens 
and  on  the  earth,  we  find  that  everything  de- 
clares his  wonderful  wisdom.  *'  The  heavens  de- 
clare the  glory  of  God,  and  the  firmament  show- 
eth  His  handiwork;  day  unto  day  uttereth  speech, 
and  night  unto  night  showeth  knowledge.  There 
there  is  no  speech  nor  language  where  their 
voice  is  not  heard."  (Ps.,  19  :  1-3).  Surely  to  a 
reverend  mind  everything  speaks  of  an  infinite 
and  all-wise  Creator. 


FLOWERS. 

THEY  DISPLAY  GOD's  GOODNESS  TO  MAN. 

My  dear  young  friends  :  Last  Sunday  I 
spoke  to  you  of  the  wisdom  of  God,  and  to-day 
I  want  to  speak  to  you  of  the  goodness  of  God 
as  displayed  in  the  flowers.  When  God  created 
the  world,  He  made  the  rivers  and  the  clouds 
and  the  trees,  to  conform  to  the  needs  of  man. 
These  things  were  necessary  to  the  existence  and 
comfort  of  man  with  his  present  needs.  But  it 
was  not  absolutely  necessary  for  man's  existence 
that  God  should  have  created  the  flowers.  He 
might  have  left  the  earth  without  its  beautiful 
carpet  of  green.  God  might  have  ordained  that 
we  should  receive  our  food  direct  from  heaven, 
like  the  Israelites  in  the  desert  when,  morning 
after  morning,  they  went  out  and  gathered  up 
the  manna.  Or  He  might  have  so  constituted 
everything  that  we  should  gather  our  food 
from  the  surface  of  the  earth,  just  the  same  as 
we  now  dip  up  from  the  earth  the  water  we 
drink.     But  God  saw  best  to  supply  our  food  by 

Objects  used :      Flowers. 

io8 


FLOWERS    DISPLAY    GOD's    GOODNESS.         IO9 

the  agency  of  seeds  and  plants,  which  bear  fruit, 
like  wheat  and  corn  and  all  kinds  of  vegetables 
and  fruits. 

Your  mother  and  father  might  place  you  in  a 
room  where  the  walls  are  all  blank,  with  nothing 
on  the  floor,  and  not  a  single  ornament  to  be 
seen  anywhere,  and  yet  this  room  might  protect 
you  from  the  storms  and  the  cold ;  but  because 
they  love  you,  therefore  they  make  the  room  very 
beautiful  and  attractive.  Just  so  it  is  with  God. 
In  the  creation  of  the  world.  He  did  not  make 
the  abode  of  His  children  blank  and  bleak,  but 
He  rendered  it  very  beautiful  by  planting  flowers 
everywhere. 

God  might  also  have  made  the  flowers  without 
any  fragrance,  but  to  most  of  them  He  has  given 
a  very  delightful  perfume.  The  violet  and 
the  mignonette,  and  these  large  and  beautiful 
roses,  and  these  tube  roses  also,  fill  a  whole  room 
with  their  fragrance.  With  all  the  study  of  men 
they  have  not  been  able  to  discover  how  it  is 
that  these  flowers  give  forth  such  a  pleasant  per- 
fume. The  combined  wisdom  of  all  those  who 
have  devoted  much  thought  and  study  to  this 
subject,  would  not  enable  one  or  all  of  them  to 
give  to  a  single  plant  the  power  to  secrete  and 
send  forth  this  fragrance.  If  they  could  make 
the  dahlia  fragrant  it  would  greatly  enhance  its 


I  lO  OBJECT   SERMONS    TO    CHILDREN. 

value.  If  they  could  cause  the  chrysanthemums  to 
secrete  and  send  forth  a  sweet  perfume,  the  man 
who  sells  them  could  get  twice  as  much  for  them 
as  he  can  now.  Among  the  great  variety  of 
flowers  which  God  has  created,  He  has  left  one 
or  two  without  fragrance,  in  order  to  teach  us 
that  He  might  have  created  them  all  without  any 
fragrance.  But  to  all  the  rest  He  has  given 
sweet  perfume,  so  that  we  might  derive  this 
added  pleasure  from  flowers. 

In  order  that  the  flowers  might  constantly  tell 
us  of  God's  wisdom  and  love,  He  has  placed 
them  everywhere.  In  the  garden,  by  the  road- 
side, in  the  fields,  down  in  the  valleys  and  up  on 
the  mountain  side.  One  of  the  pleasant  sur- 
prises in  crossing  the  Alps,  in  Switzerland,  is  to 
discover  that  when  you  have  passed  far  up  the 
mountain,  where  trees  do  not  grow,  and  where 
there  is  no  grass,  yet  you  find  very  beautiful 
flowers.  Wherever  among  the  rocks  there  is 
a  sufficient  amount  of  earth  for  these  little  plants 
to  secure  nourishment  for  their  roots  you  will 
find  flowers,  which,  although  not  large,  are  yet 
very  beautiful.  Some  are  white,  like  the  sur- 
rounding snow,  and  others  are  blue,  like  the  over- 
arching sky.  God  has  placed  the  flowers  every- 
where, so  that  no  matter  where  we  are  He  can 
still  teach  us  of  Himself.  We  are  even  told  that  in 


FLOWERS   DISPLAY   GOD  S    GOODNESS.  I  1 1 

some  places  the  sea  is  covered  with  a  great 
variety  of  plants,  some  of  which  are  as  beautiful 
as  those  which  grow  in  our  gardens. 

It  is  related  of  Mungo  Park,  the  famous  African 
traveler,  that  one  day,  when  he  was  traveling 
alone,  he  was  almost  worn  out,  and  in  his  exhaus- 
tion he  laid  down,  almost  in  despair.  The  sun 
was  shining  with  overpowering  heat,  and  the  dry 
sand  of  the  desert  seemed  almost  hot  enough  to 
scorch  his  flesh.  When  he  was  almost  ready  to 
give  up  in  despair,  he  noticed  near  him  a  little 
moss  plant  growing  green  and  fresh,  even  in  the 
desert.  The  sight  of  it  brought  to  his  mind  the 
recollection  that  God  was  everywhere.  This  little 
plant  taught  him  that  God  cared  for  it,  even  in 
the  desert,  and  the  thought  gave  fresh  courage  to 
the  lonely  traveler.  He  was  moved  to  tears  with 
the  sense  of  God's  presence,  and  rising  to  his  feet 
with  new  courage,  he  pressed  on  and  was  deliv- 
ered out  of  that  which  seemed  to  be  certain  death. 

Not  only  does  God  plant  the  flowers  every- 
where, so  that  we  may  never  escape  from  the 
sermons  which  they  are  continually  preaching  to 
us,  but  God  has  caused  that  the  flowers  shall 
bloom  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  Some  in  the 
spring,  some  in  the  summer,  some  in  the  fall,  and 
others  even  in  the  winter,  while  still  others  bloom 
at  various  seasons  of  the  year.     There  are  also 


112  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

those  that  bloom  in  the  morning,  to  cheer  us  when 
we  begin  our  work  for  the  day,  and  others,  Uke 
the  night-blooming  cereus,  that  bloom  only  in 
the  darkness  of  the  night.  There  is  not  an  hour 
in  the  day  which  has  not  been  chosen  by  some 
flower,  or  which  God  has  appointed  for  it,  as  the 
time  for  it  to  burst  into  beauty,  to  cheer  man  in 
his  journey  through  this  world. 

If  so  much  of  beauty  and  fragrance  still  abides 
in  the  flowers,  even  after  this  world  has  been 
cursed  by  sin,  what  must  have  been  the  beauty 
of  the  world,  and  the  fragrance  of  its  flowers 
when  God  created  it,  and  placed  man  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden,  and  when  looking  upon  the 
creations  of  the  fourth  day,  with  its  flowers  and 
its  fragrance,  God  pronounced  all    very    good? 

Some  day  the  earth  and  the  flowers  shall  be 
redeemed  from  the  curse  of  sin,  for  the  Bible  tells 
us  "  that  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and 
traveleth  in  pain,"  waiting  for  redemption,  that 
it  may  be  pure  again.  Oh  !  how  beautiful  it  will 
then  appear !  Since  God  has  made  this  world 
so  beautiful  as  our  present  abode  what  can  we 
not  properly  expect  to  find  in  Heaven  which  He 
has  created  above,  where  all  is  holiness,  and 
purity  and  love ;  "  where  everlasting  spring 
abides,  and  never  withering  flowers  ?  " 


THE  HEART. 

THE  MOST  WONDERFUL  PUMP  IN  THE  WORLD. 

My  dear  young  friends:  In  the  139th  Psalm, 
14th  verse,  David  says,  "I  will  praise  thee,  for  I 
am  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made."  Now  I 
want  to  talk  to  you  this  morning  about  these 
wonderful  bodies,  in  the  creation  of  which  God 
has  so  marvelously  displayed  His  infinite  wis- 
dom. These  objects  which  I  have  for  illustra- 
tion I  will  place  where  you  can  see  them. 

I  suppose  you  have  all  been  either  near  or 
inside  of  a  factory.  You  have  heard  the  noise 
of  the  shafts  and  the  pulleys  and  machinery. 
You  have  seen  the  carding  machines,  and  lis- 
tened to  the  noise  of  the  great  spinning  jacks 
which  twisted  the  cotton  and  the  wool  into  yarn 
or  thread,  and  heard  the  deafening  sound  of  a 
great  many  looms  as  the  shuttle  flew  backward 
and  forward,  while  the  many  threads  were  being 
woven  into  cloth.     A  factory  is  quite  wonderful, 


Objects  used :  Tumbler  of  water  colored  red  and  a  small 
glass  syringe,  such  as  can  be  purchased  for  ten  cents  in  any 
drug  store,  and  a  six-ounce  bottle  of  water  colored  red. 

"3 


114  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

but  do  you  know  that  in  your  bodies  are  found 
the  elements  of  almost  all  the  kinds  of  machinery 
that  are  used  in  the  world?  God  has  so  created 
us  that  we  do  not  hear  the  noise  of  the  machinery 
of  our  bodies,  but  if  you  will  place  your  fingers 
gently  in  your  ears  you  will  hear  a  peculiar  rumb- 
ling sound.  That  sound  which  you  hear  is  the 
noise  of  the  machinery  of  your  body,  which  is 
in  constant  motion. 

Now,  the  heart,  which  pumps  the  blood  into 
all  portions  of  the  body,  makes  the  largest  por- 
tion of  this  noise.  Do  you  know  where  your 
heart  is  located?  I  supposed  that  most  of  you 
would  point  to  your  left  side,  because  you  have 
so  frequently  heard  it  spoken  of  as  being  located 
there.  You  have  seen  public  speakers  and 
others,  when  referring  to  their  heart,  place  their 
hands  upon  their  left  side.  But  if  you  will  bend 
your  head  forward  so  as  to  press  your  chin 
against  your  breast,  as  far  down  as  possible,  the 
heart  will  be  just  under  and  below  your  chin. 
It  is  in  the  center  of  the  body,  and  the  lower 
portion  of  it  comes  near  to  the  ribs  on  the  left 
side,  and  when  it  beats  we  can  feel  it  throb 
by  placing  our  hand  on  our  left  side ;  but  the 
heart  is  really  in  the  center  of  the  body,  and 
not  wholly  at  the  side.  If  you  were  to  close 
your  hand,  as  the  boys  do  when  they  say  they 


THE  MOST  WONDERFUL  PUMP.       II5 

make  a  fist,  the  size  of  your  closed  hand  will  be 
somewhat  smaller  than  the  heart,  of  which  I  am 
speaking. 

In  this  tumbler  I  have  some  water  which  I 
have  colored  with  red  ink,  so  as  to  represent 
blood.  Here  is  a  small  glass  syringe,  such  as  can 
be  bought  for  ten  or  fifteen  cents  in  any  drug 
store.  Now,  when  I  draw  this  little  handle  up, 
you  w^ill  see  how  the  syringe  is  filled  with  this 
red  water,  and  when  I  press  it  down  how  the 
water  is  forced  out  of  the  syringe  back  into  the 
glass.  This  very  clearly  illustrates  the  principle 
upon  which  all  pumps  and  steam  engines  which 
pump  water  are  made.  Even  the  large  fire  en- 
gine, which  throws  water  such  a  great  distance, 
is  made  largely  upon  this  principle. 

You  may  possibly  have  been  in  the  engine 
room,  where  the  huge  pumps  force  the  water  into 
the  reservoirs  which  .supply  the  city  with  water 
for  drinking  and  other  purposes.  From  the 
pumps  and  the  reservoirs  there  are  great  pipes, 
which  lead  the  water  under  the  streets  to  the 
many  thousands  of  houses  which  constitute  this 
city.  After  the  water  has  been  used  it  is  turned 
into  the  sewers,  runs  down  into  the  river  and 
back  to  the  sea,  where  it  is  evaporated,  rises  again 
in  the  clouds,  and  by  the  wind  is  carried  hun- 
hreds  of  miles  over  the  country,  and  then  de- 


Il6  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

scends  again  in  the  form  of  snow  and  rain,  soaks 
down  through  the  earth  and  finds  its  way  again 
into  the  springs  and  great  veins  of  water  under 
the  earth,  from  which  it  is  carried  back  once 
more  to  the  city.  Thus  it  is  made  pure  again 
and  again ,  to  be  used  over  and  over  by  the  people 
whom  God  has  created  and  whom  He  suppHes 
with  water  in  this  way. 

Now,  in  somewhat  the  same  way,  the  heart, 
which  is  both  an  engine  and  a  pump,  forces  the 
blood  out  through  the  arteries,  distributing  it  to 
every  portion  of  the  body,  furnishing  the  ma- 
terials for  building  and  renewing  the  muscles 
and  the  bones  and  every  portion  of  our  system, 
and  then  gathering  up  that  which  is  worn  out 
and  no  longer  of  service,  it  returns  the  impure 
blood  through  the  veins  back  to  the  right  side  of 
the  heart,  where  it  is  pumped  into  the  lungs  and 
purified  by  being  brought  into  contact  with  the 
air  we  breathe,  and  is  then  returned  to  the 
left  side  of  the  heart,  pumped  again  into  the 
arteries  and  distributed  through  all  parts  of  the 
body,  and  so  goes  on  circulating.  Thus  the 
blood  is  pumped  by  the  heart  into  the  arteries 
and  is  distributed  to  all  portions  of  the  body, 
and  returned  again  to  the  heart,  from  fourteen  to 
twenty  times  each  hour  of  our  life. 

In  this  bottle,  which  holds  six  ounces,  I  have 


THE    MOST    WONDERFUL    PUMP.  I  1  / 

placed  some  of  this  colored  water,  which  repre- 
sents about  the  quantity  which  is  pumped  out  of 
the  heart  each  time  the  pulse  beats.  As  I  have 
already  intimated  to  you,  the  heart  is  double, 
and  at  each  throb  about  one-half  the  quantity  in 
this  bottle  is  pumped  out  by  the  right  side,  and 
the  other  half  by  the  left  side  of  the  heart. 
Now,  if  the  heart  was  to  pump  different  blood 
with  each  pulsation,  instead  of  pumping  the 
same  blood  over  and  over  again,  in  twenty-four 
hours  the  heart  of  a  man  of  ordinary  size  would 
pump  150  barrels  of  blood. 

The  Bible  says  that  the  days  of  our  years  are 
three-score  years  and  ten,  or,  in  other  words, 
that  the  allotted  period  of  an  ordinary  life  is  70 
years.  Now,  in  70  years  the  heart  would  pump 
164,389,786  gallons;  or,  to  give  it  to  you  in  bar- 
rels, it  would  make  4,566,382  barrels.  If  you 
were  to  place  six  barrels  on  a  wagon,  and  this 
would  make  a  good  load  for  two  horses,  you 
would  have  761,063  loads  of  these  barrels.  If 
you  were  to  place  these  teams,  with  the  wagons 
containing  six  barrels  apiece,  with  36  gallons 
each,  at  a  distance  of  25  feet  apart,  it  would  make 
a  string  of  teams  stretching  away  1,778  miles,  or 
as  far  as  from  New  York  City  to  Des  Moines,  in 
the  State  of  Iowa,  or  from  New  York  City  down 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 


Il8  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

I  think  you  will  now  be  able  to  understand 
what  a  wonderful  little  steam  engine  and  pump 
each  of  us  have  within  our  own  breast.  And  it 
may  surprise  some  of  you  older  people  when  I 
tell  you  that  Dr.  Buck  says  that  the  heart  at  each 
throb  beats  with  a  power  equal  to  100,000  pounds. 

An  ordinary  engine  or  pump  would  soon  wear 
out,  but  this  little  engine  of  the  heart  goes  on 
beating  day  and  night  from  the  time  we  are  born 
until  we  are  70  years  of  age,  if  we  live  to  be 
that  old,  and  even  while  we  rest  in  sleep,  the 
heart  never  stops  for  a  moment.  Is  it  any  won- 
der that  David  said  that  "  we  are  fearfully  and 
wonderfully  made  ?  " 

I  might  tell  you  many  other  wonderful  things 
about  the  heart,  but  this  will  have  to  suffice. 

If  the  natural  heart  in  these  bodies  of  ours  is 
so  wonderful,  how  much  more  wonderful  still  is 
that  heart  which  is  the  seat  of  the  moral  life  and 
character?  As  the  natural  heart  is  hidden  away 
in  these  bodies  of  ours,  so  the  spirit  or  the  soul 
is  spoken  of  in  the  Bible  as  the  heart,  because  it 
is  hidden  away  in  the  life  which  we  have  in  these 
bodies  of  ours,  and  it  is  this  moral  character  and 
spiritual  life  to  which  the  Bible  refers  when  it 
says,  "  Keep  thine  heart  with  all  diligence,  for 
out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life." 


THE  EYE. 

THE   MOST   VALUABLE   AND    MOST   WONDERFUL 
TELESCOPE. 

My  dear  LITTLE  MILLIONAIRES  I  You  know  that 
when  people  are  very  wealthy,  have  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars,  they  are  spoken  of  as 
millionaires.  Oftentimes  these  rich  people  do 
not  have  any  more  actual  money  than  poorer 
people,  but  they  have  property  which  Is  supposed 
to  be  worth  a  great  deal  of  money.  Now,  I  want 
to  show  you  this  morning  that  each  one  of  you 
possesses  that  which  is  worth  millions  of  dollars. 

I  want  to  talk  to  you  about  your  eyes,  and  I 
hope  that  you  will  be  able  to  understand  that 
they  are  worth  hundreds  and  thousands,  yes 
millions  of  dollars  to  each  of  you.  In  order  that 
I  may  better  illustrate  a  few  of  the  many  wonder- 
ful things  about  the  human  eye,  I  have  brought 
this  field-glass,  and  here  is  a  small  spy-glass,  and 
also  a  magnifying  lens,  or  sun-glass,  as  boys 
sometimes  call  them.     Inside  of  this   spy-glass 


Object  used:    Field  or  opera -glasses,  spy-glass  and  sun-glass. 
119 


X20  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

and  field-glasses  are  lenses  or  magnify ing-glasses, 
similar  to  this  sun-glass.  They  are,  however, 
more  perfect,  and  are  so  adjusted  or  related  to 
each  other,  that  when  I  place  this  smaller  lens  of 
the  spy-glass  to  my  eyes  I  also  look  through  the 
larger  lens  which  is  at  the  larger  end  of  the  in- 
strument. When  properly  adjusted,  it  enables 
me  to  look  at  objects  which  are  at  a  great  dis- 
tance, and  so  to  magnify  them  as  to  cause  them 
to  seem  much  nearer  to  me  than  they  really  are. 

Now,  if  you  take  this  spy-glass  and  look  at 
the  stars,  it  will  not  make  them  appear  any 
larger  than  they  appear  to  the  eye  without  the 
spy-glass.  It  will  assist  the  eye  when  I  look  at 
the  moon  or  the  planets,  but  not  at  the  stars. 
Astronomers  have  desired  something  larger  and 
more  satisfactory,  and  so  have  made  the  great 
telescopes,  which  are  simply  large  spy-glasses, 
and  both  the  telescope  and  the  spy-glass,  and 
the  field-glasses,  are  also  imitations  of  the  human 
eye ;  the  same  as  many  of  our  greatest  inven- 
tions are  only  imitations  of  that  which  God  has 
already  created,  and  which  we  have  but  feebly 
imitated.  The  eye  is  a  more  wonderful  instru- 
ment than  even  the  largest  telescopes  which 
have  ever  been  made. 

If  you  desired  to  look  through  a  telescope  at 
one  of  the  stars  or  a  planet,  or  the  moon,  you 


THE    MOST   WONDERFUL    TELESCOPE.  121 

would  have  considerable  difficulty  in  directing  it 
SO  as  to  be  able  to  see  the  desired  object.  Even 
with  this  small  spy-glass  it  is  very  difficult  so  to 
direct  it  as  to  find  a  particular  star  in  the  heavens 
at  night.  It  is  not  easy,  even  to  find  a  distant 
object  upon  the  earth.  But  with  these  wonder- 
ful eyes,  with  which  God  has  endowed  us,  you 
and  I  can  look  almost  instantly  fi-om  one  star  to 
any  other  star,  and  find  instantly  upon  the  earth 
any  object  which  is  distinctly  pointed  out  to  us. 
It  takes  a  very  experienced  person  successfully 
to  operate  a  telescope,  but  the  smallest  child  can 
direct  and  control  and  use  his  own  eyes  success- 
fully. 

The  large  telescopes  have  to  be  turned  and 
adjusted  by  machinery,  and  when  it  is  desired  to 
direct  them  to  a  star  on  the  opposide  side  of  the 
heavens  they  have  even  to  turn  around  the 
entire  roof  or  dome  of  the  observatory.  But 
you  and  I  do  not  need  any  ponderous  machinery 
to  adjust  our  eyes,  or  to  turn  about  in  order  to 
look  in  a  different  direction.  We  can  easily 
turn  our  heads  by  bending  our  necks,  or,  if 
necessary,  we  can  turn  around  our  entire  body 
and  look  in  an  opposite  direction.  In  looking 
from  one  object  to  another,  our  eyes  change 
their  direction  so  quickly  that  we  are  not  con- 
scious of  any  effort  upon  our  own  part. 


122  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

If  you  were  to  look  through  a  large  telescope, 
or  even  one  of  these  smaller  spy-glasses,  you 
would  immediately  discover  that  when  you 
desire  to  look  at  objects  at  different  distances,  or 
in  different  degrees  of  light  and  shade,  you 
would  have  constantly  to  adjust  the  telescope  or 
spy-glass  to  these  different  conditions.  If  you 
would  look  at  objects  which  are  near,  and  then 
turn  the  spy-glass  to  look  at  those  which  are 
distant,  you  would  not  be  able  to  see  distinctly 
until  you  had  adjusted  the  lens  to  suit  the  dis- 
tance. But  with  our  eyes  the  same  adjustment 
has  to  be  made,  and  yet  it  is  done  so  quickly  and 
without  any  effort  upon  our  part,  that  it  seems 
as  if  it  were  not  done  at  all  When  we  look  at 
an  object  which  is  only  a  few  inches  from  our 
face,  and  then  turn  and  look  at  a  distant  object, 
instantly  our  eyes  are  adjusted  to  the  difference 
of  distance  and  varying  degrees  of  light  and 
shade. 

But  what  makes  this  all  more  wonderful  still, 
is  the  fact  that  we  have  two  telescopes,  two 
eyes  instead  of  one.  Both  of  these  little  eye 
telescopes  instantly  adjust  themselves,  and  both 
adjust  themselves  to  precisely  the  same  neces- 
sity. If  they  adjusted  themselves  differently  we 
would  see  two  objects  instead  of  one,  the  same 
as  with  a  drunken  man  who   has   lost  the  use 


THE    MOST   WONDERFUL  TELESCOPE.  123 

of  his  muscles  and  faculties,  his  eyes  do  not 
work  in  harmony,  and  therefore,  instead  of  see- 
ing only  one  object,  he  sees  two  objects  and 
sees  them  in  a  confused  way. 

Did  you  ever  think  how  wonderful  it  is  that 
when  you  close  your  right  eye,  and  look  at  some- 
thing with  your  left  eye,  that  you  can  see  the 
object  distinctly.  Now,  if  you  close  the  left  eye, 
and  look  at  the  same  object  with  the  right  eye, 
you  see  the  same  object  distinctly.  When  you 
open  both  eyes  and  look  at  the  same  object,  in- 
stead of  seeing  the  object  twice,  or  seeing  two 
objects,  you  see  only  one  object.  That  is  be- 
cause the  eyes  work  in  such  perfect  harmony,  and 
that  is  what  the  Scripture  means  when  it  says 
that  you  and  I  should  "see  eye  to  eye"  in  every- 
thing that  is  good. 

Now  there  is  another  thing  to  which  I  desire 
to  call  your  attention,  and  that  is  the  size  of  the 
eye.  If  you  owned  one  of  these  very  large  tele- 
scopes which  cost  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dol- 
lars, you  would  be  regarded  as  a  very  wealthy 
person,  but  you  could  not  carry  that  telescope 
with  you  from  one  place  to  another.  It  would 
be  of  no  service  to  you  in  looking  upon  the  beau- 
tiful scenes  which  surround  you  from  day  to  day. 
If  you  wanted  to  use  the  telescope  you  would 
have  to  stay  where  the  telescope  was,  instead  of 


124  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

taking  the  telescope  with  you  where  you  desired 
to  go.  But  God  has  made  these  Httle  telescopes, 
the  eyes,  so  perfect,  and  yef  so  compact  and 
small,  that  wherever  we  go,  on  land  or  sea,  we 
can  take  them  with  us,  and  they  can  be  in  con- 
stant use  and  give  us  the  most  perfect  delight 
and  satisfaction. 

I  am  sure  there  is  not  a  single  little  boy  here 
who  would  trade  off  one  of  these  perfect  httle 
telescopes — yes,  I  will  call  it  a  telescope  and  an 
observatory  also — for  God  has  beautifully  encased 
our  eyes,  and  shielded  and  housed  them  more 
beautifully  and  satisfactorily  than  the  most  per- 
fect observatory  which  was  ever  built  for  any  man- 
made  telescope.  We  would  not  trade  away  one 
of  our  eyes  for  one  of  the  finest  telescopes  in  the 
world,  and  we  would  not  be  willing  to  give  both 
of  our  eyes  for  all  the  telescopes  which  have  ever 
been  made. 

But  one  of  these  large  telescopes  and  observa- 
tories would  cost  a  great  deal — even  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars ;  yet  God  has  given  you  and 
me  these  telescopes,  our  wonderful  eyes.  But 
because  God  has  given  them  to  us  they  are  none 
the  less  valuable,  and  I  think  therefore  that  I  was 
correct  when  I  addressed  you  this  morning  as 
httle  millionaires. 

Now,  God  has  given  you,  not  simply  one  eye, 


THE   MOST   WONDERFUL  TELESCOPE.  12$ 

but  He  has  given  you  two  eyes,  two  wonderful 
telescopes  and  observatories.  He  has  given  you 
two,  so  that  if  by  any  accident  one  should  be 
destroyed,  you  would  still  have  the  other  to  de- 
pend upon.  God  has  given  you  two  eyes,  and 
two  hands,  and  two  feet;  but  He  has  given  you 
only  one  soul,  and  if  by  sin  you  lose  that  one 
soul,  then  you  have  lost  everything,  for  the 
Scripture  says,  '*  What  shall  a  man  give  in  ex- 
change for  his  soul?" 

In  Palestine,  the  country  in  which  Jesus  lived 
when  He  was  upon  the  earth,  the  sun  shines  with 
wonderful  brightness  and  clearness,  the  land  also 
is  very  light  in  color,  and  consequently  the  eyes 
are  oppressed  by  the  glare,  just  the  same  as  those 
of  you  who  have  ever  been  at  the  seashore  have 
experienced  while  walking  along  the  beach ;  or, 
to  some  extent,  like  the  bright  sunlight  shining 
upon  the  snow  in  winter.  This  lightness  of  the 
soil  and  brightness  of  the  sun  in  Palestine  are  the 
cause  of  blindness  to  many  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  when  Jesus  was  upon  the  earth,  one  of  His 
greatest  acts  of  mercy  to  suffering  humanity  was 
to  open  and  heal  the  eyes  of  those  who  were 
either  born  blind,  or  who  had  become  blind  after- 
ward on  account  of  the  brightness  of  the  sun  and 
the  constant  strain  on  the  eyes  by  the  lightness 
of  the  soil. 


126  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

Now,  in  this  country  of  ours,  and  in  all  coun- 
tries of  the  earth,  there  are  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands and  millions  of  people  who  are  spiritually 
Wind.  Jesus  Christ  is  to-day  passing  by,  just 
the  same  as  when  the  blind  man  sat  by  the  road- 
side near  Jericho,  when  Jesus  passed  by.  As 
that  blind  man  called  upon  Jesus  and  said, 
"  Thou  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  upon  me,"  so 
you  and  I  should  call  upon  God  and  upon  His 
Son,  Jesus  Christ,  that  He  would  have  mercy 
upon  us  and  open  our  spiritual  eyes.  We  should 
make  the  language  of  the  Scriptures  the  petition 
of  our  hearts,  "Open  Thou  mine  eyes,  that  I 
may  behold  wondrous  things  out  of  Thy  law." 
I  pray  that  God  may  give  each  of  you  to  see 
and  to  understand  spiritual  things. 


.  THE  EYE. 

THE  SMALLEST   CAMERA,   THE    MOST  VALUABLE 
PICTURES. 

I  am  going  to  address  you  again  this  morning 
as  LITTLE  MILLIONAIRES.  Last  wcck  I  showcd 
you  how  your  eyes  were  more  valuable  than  the 
most  costly  telescopes,  and  this  morning  I  want 
to  show  you  how,  in  another  way,  you  are  little 
millionaires. 

Very  wealthy  people  sometimes  travel  in  dif- 
ferent countries,  and  gather  very  rare  and  beauti- 
ful paintings  and  pictures,  oftentimes  paying  a 
thousand  dollars,  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  some- 
times very  much  more  for  a  single  painting. 
Then  they  bring  these  paintings  all  together  in 
their  own  homes  and  hang  them  on  the  walls, 
and  as  the  result  of  the  expenditure  of  many 
thousands,  and  sometimes  of  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  dollars,  they  have  a  very  beautiful  and 
rare  collection.  But  God  has  made  you  and  me 
the  possessors  of  a  vast  number  of  pictures,  more 


Object  used  :  Small  camera  of  any  kind. 
127 


128  OBJECT   SERMONS  TO    CHILDREN. 

beautiful,  of  greater  variety,  and  infinitely  more 
valuable,  than  all  the  paintings  that  were  ever 
hung  upon  the  walls  of  any  art  gallery  in  the 
world. 

To  illustrate  my  thought,  I  have  this  morning 
brought  a  camera.  Sometimes  such  cameras  as 
this  is  called  a  Hawk-Eye  or  Snap-Shot.  As 
the  finest  telescopes  have  been  modeled  after  the 
human  eye,  so  the  camera  is  only  a  very  imperfect 
imitation  of  the  human  eye.  As  the  spy-glass 
and  telescope  have  lenses,  so  does  this  camera 
have  a  lens,  which  you  see  here  in  the  front. 
Just  back  of  this  lens  is  the  dark  chamber  in  the 
camera,  and  back  of  it  is  a  ground  glass,  as  you 
will  see  here.  Now  whatever  is  directly  in  front 
of  the  camera  is  shown  on  the  ground  glass,  as 
you  will  observe,  but  in  an  inverted  or  up-side- 
down  position.  So  the  eye  has  its  various  parts, 
and  as  the  ray  of  light  passes  through  this  lens, 
and  reflects  the  picture  on  this  ground  glass,  so 
a  ray  of  light  coming  from  any  object  passes  first 
through  the  small  opening  of  the  eye,  through 
the  cornea,  then  through  the  aqueous  humor  in 
the  crystalline  lens  and  lastly  the  vitreous  humor 
to  the  retina,  where  the  picture  is  inverted  just 
the  same  as  upon  this  ground  glass.  When  this 
picture  is  thrown  upon  the  rear  wall  of  the  eye, 
which  is  called  the  retina,  the  seeing  nerve,  which 


SMALLEST   CAMERA,   VALUABLE   PICTURES.    129 

is  called  the  optic  nerve,  which  is  connected  with 
the  eye,  conveys  the  inipression  to  the  brain,  and 
the  result  is  what  we  call  seeing. 

What  I  have  told  you  is  correct,  and  can 
easily  be  proven  by  a  simple  experiment  with 
the  eye  of  some  animal.  If  you  take  the  eye 
of  a  dead  rabbit,  and  cleanse  the  back  portion 
of  it  from  the  fat  and  muscles  and  then  hold  a 
candle  in  front  of  it,  you  can  see  the  image  of 
the  candle  formed  upon  the  retina.  In  the  same 
way,  if  you  take  the  eye  of  an  ox,  and  carefully 
pare  off  from  the  back  portion,  so  as  to  leave  it 
very  thin,  and  place  the  eye  so  that  it  looks 
through  a  small  hole  in  a  box,  behind  which  you 
cover  your  head  and  make  it  dark,  you  will  see 
the  picture  of  any  object  which  is  directly  in 
front  of  this  eye  of  the  ox.  In  both  instances 
they  will  be  in  the  inverted  form.  This  experi- 
ment would  fully  demonstrate  to  you  that  the 
camera  is  only  an  imitation,  and  a  very  poor  one 
too,  of  the  human  eyCo 

Now  when  pictures  are  taken  by  means  of 
the  camera,  the  negative  can  not  be  exposed  to 
the  light,  but  must  be  taken  into  a  dark  room, 
and  be  carefully  developed  by  the  use  of  neces- 
sary chemicals  or  liquids.  Then  specially  pre- 
pared paper  must  be  used  for  printing  the  pho- 
tographs.    This  paper  must  also  be  kept  in  the 


130  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

dark  until  it  has  been  thoroughly  washed  and 
cleansed.  But,  with  the  pictures  which  are  taken 
upon  the  retina  of  the  eye,  no  such  delay  and 
labor  is  necessary  before  you  can  look  at  them. 
The  moment  the  eye  is  turned  in  any  direction, 
instantly  the  picture  is  photographed  upon  the 
retina  of  the  eye,  and  then  stamped  indelibly  upon 
the  memory  and  becomes  a  part  of  ourselves. 

There  is  no  cost  for  chemicals,  no  delay  in  ad- 
justing the  instrument  with  which  the  picture  is 
taken,  no  necessity  for  carrying  around  so  large 
a  camera  as  this,  which  I  have  here  in  this  box. 

The  camera  has  many  disadvantages  which 
are  not  found  in  the  human  eye.  The  camera 
must  be  adjusted  to  objects  near  or  far,  and  dif- 
ferent cameras  have  to  be  used  for  pictures  of 
different  sizes  and  for  different  classes  of  pictures. 
These  cameras  are  costly  to  purchase,  consume 
a  great  deal  of  time  in  securing  a  few  pictures, 
are  always  attended  with  expense,  and  when 
you  desire  to  remove  the  pictures  from  one  place 
to  another,  the  owner  is  subjected  to  much 
trouble  and  annoyance.  Then,  the  camera  also 
does  not  give  us  the  colors  of  the  different  ob- 
jects which  are  before  it.  That  is  the  reason 
why,  in  the  beginning,  I  spoke  of  these  million- 
aires purchasing  such  costly  paintings,  because 
in  the  paintings  different  colors  are  represented. 


SMALLEST    CAMERA,   VALUABLE  PICTURES.    13I 

Now,  in  the  hundreds  of  pictures  which  are 
constantly  being  taken  by  your  eyes,  there  are  no 
delays,  no  expenses,  no  inconvenience  when  the 
pictures  have  once  been  taken.  Different  shades 
and  colors  are  all  clearly  represented.  And  even 
though  you  were  to  stand  on  a  high  mountain, 
where  you  could  look  off  over  one  or  two  hun- 
dred square  miles  of  beautiful  landscape,  all  that 
beautiful  scenery  would  be  pictured  on  the  retina 
of  your  eye,  and  the  picture,  complete  and  per- 
fect, would  not  be  larger  than  one-half  inch 
square.  What  would  real  wealthy  people  be 
willing  to  give  for  a  perfect  picture  only  one-half 
inch  square,  in  which  the  artist  had  clearly  de- 
fined every  field  and  tree,  rivers,  houses,  roads, 
railways  and  all  the  beautiful  landscape  con- 
tained in  a  vast  area  of  two  hundred  square 
miles? 

Our  eyes  are  wonderful  cameras,  which  God 
has  given  us  so  that  as  we  pass  through  life  we 
could  be  constantly  taking  these  beautiful  pictures, 
and  look  at  them  not  only  for  the  instant,  but 
that  we  might  treasure  them  up  in  our  memories 
and  make  them  the  rich  treasures  and  joyous 
heritage  of  coming  years. 

The  older  we  grow,  the  more  we  appreciate 
these  memory  pictures  of  the  past — memories  of 
our  childhood  days,  beautiful  landscapes,  foreign 


132  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

travel,  lovely  sunsets,  the  glorious  sunrise,  green 
fields  and  orchards  of  golden  fruit.  As  you 
grow  old,  I  suppose  the  richest  treasures  in  your 
picture  gallery  of  the  past  will  be  the  memories 
of  your  childhood  home,  of  mother  and  father, 
brother  and  sister.  Possibly  when  you  have 
grown  old,  you  will  remember  how  one  day 
your  heart  was  almost  broken,  when  for  the  first 
time  you  were  leaving  home;  how  mother's 
eyes  filled  with  tears  when  she  kissed  you  good- 
bye, and,  following  you  to  the  gate,  stood  and 
waved  her  handkerchief,  while  home  faded 
from  view  as  you  rounded  the  turn  in  the  road 
and  realized  for  the  first  time  that  you  were 
launching  out  into  real  life  for  long  years  of 
struggle. 

Just  as  the  hearts  of  the  parents  go  out  in 
great  tenderness  toward  their  son,  who  is  leaving 
the  Christian  influences  of  his  own  home  to  begin 
service  in  a  distant  city,  surrounded  by  evil  in- 
fluences, and  oftentimes  by  wicked  individuals, 
so  the  heart  of  our  Heavenly  Father  goes  out  in 
great  tenderness  towards  you  and  me,  while  we 
are  separated  from  the  great  eternal  mansion  of 
the  skies.  God's  heart  yearns  over  us  in  great 
tenderness,  and  while  we  live  in  the  midst  of  the 
evil  of  this  world  we  are  constantly  to  remember 
that  God  has  made  us  millionaires,  not  only  in 


SMALLEST   CAMERA,   VALUABLE   PICTURES.    1 33 

the  possession  of  the  eyes,  and  other  faculties 
with  which  He  has  endowed  us  for  use  here  upon 
the  earth,  but  we  are  to  remember  that  we  are 
children  of  the  King  of  Heaven,  and  that  we  are 
heirs  of  everlasting  life  and  of  everlasting  glory. 
We  are  heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Jesus 
Christ,  to  an  inheritance  which  is  incorruptible, 
undefiled  and  that  "  fadeth  not  away."  We  are 
not  simply  millionaires,  but  we  are  heirs  of  ever- 
lasting glory. 


COAL  AND  WOOD. 

JESUS   THE   SOURCE   OF   SPIRITUAL   LIGHT   AND 
WARMTH. 

Dear  boys  and  girls  :  When  Jesus  was  upon 
the  earth,  He  said  of  Himself,  "  lam  the  Hght  of 
the  world."  Now,  I  desire  this  morning  to  illus- 
trate to  you  something  of  the  truth  which  Jesus 
had  in  mind  when  He  uttered  these  words. 

Now,  we  are  told  in  the  Bible,  that  when  God 
created  the  world,  on  the  fourth  day  He  created 
the  sun  and  the  moon  to  give  light  upon  the 
earth,  the  sun  to  rule  over  the  day,  and  the  moon 
to  rule  over  the  night. 

I  suppose  you  all  know  that  the  earth  is  round, 
and  that  while  the  sun  is  shining  on  our  side  of 
the  earth,  and  making  it  day  here,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  globe  or  earth  it  is  night  and  is  all 
dark.  Now,  I  want  to  tell  you  that  the  sun  is 
the  source  of  all  light  upon  the  earth.  The  sun 
shines  and  dispels  the  darkness,  and  makes  it 
light.     And  do  you  know  that  the  moon  does 


Objects  used :  Pieces  of  wood  and  coal,  a  candle  and  a  piece 
of  electric-light  carbon,  such  as  are  daily  thrown  away  in  towns 
where  arc  lighting  is  used. 

134 


THE   LIGHT   OF   THE  WORLD.  1 35 

not  shine  by  its  own  light,  but  it  simply  throws 
back  again,  as  we  say,  reflects,  the  light  of  the 
sun,  just  the  same  as  when  a  boy  takes  a  small 
piece  of  looking-glass  and  throws  the  light  across 
the  street.  There  is  no  light  in  the  looking-glass 
itself,  but  it  simply  takes  the  rays  of  light  which 
fall  upon  it  from  the  sun  and  bends  them,  or 
turns  them,  so  that  he  can  throw  them  across 
the  street,  or  upon  anything  that  he  desires  that 
is  in  range  of  him.  So  the  light  of  the  sun  falls 
upon  the  moon,  and  is  turned  again  or  re- 
flected back  upon  the  earth.  God  has  so  placed 
the  moon  in  the  heavens  that  it  reflects  the  light 
of  the  sun  upon  those  portions  of  the  earth  which 
are  in  darkness.  Or,  in  other  words,  as  he  says 
in  the  Bible,  the  moon  has  been  "  made  to  rule 
the  night."  So  you  see  that  even  the  moon 
does  not  shine  by  its  own  light. 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  Righteousness.  All 
the  good  there  is  in  the  world,  all  the  righteous- 
ness, all  that  is  holy  and  pure,  come  from  Jesus 
Christ.  The  Church  is  also  a  source  of  purity, 
of  holiness,  of  religion,  and  of  Christianity. 
But  the  Church  does  not  shine  of  itself  It  does 
not  have  these  influences  within  itself.  All  its 
light  is  derived  from  the  Son  of  Righteousness. 
All  influences  which  tend  for  goodness  and  hoH- 
ness  and  purity  are  derived  from  the  Lord  Jesus 


136  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

Christ.  He  is  the  source  of  all  that  is  good,  and 
only  in  so  far  as  the  Church  reflects  the  life  of 
Jesus,  and  the  truth  which  is  revealed  in  His 
Word,  and  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  does  it  be- 
come the  source  of  saving  power  in  the  world. 

Now,  here  I  have  a  piece  of  coal,  and  a  piece 
of  wood,  and  a  candle,  and  a  piece  of  carbon 
from  an  electric  light.  And  you  might  ask  me 
whether  the  light  that  comes  from  the  coal  when 
it  burns,  or  the  wood  when  it  burns,  and  the 
candle  when  it  is  lighted,  and  the  electric  light 
when  it  illuminates  the  street  so  brightly,  whether 
they  are  not  shining  by  their  own  light?  No;  they 
are  not  shining  by  their  own  light.  All  the  light 
that  there  is  in  the  wood,  or  in  the  coal,  or  in 
the  candle,  or  in  anything  else  that  makes  a  light 
at  all,  derives  its  source  and  origin  from  the  sun. 
The  light  that  comes  from  the  burning  of  this 
wood  is  simply  the  releasing  of  the  light  that  has 
been  accumulated  from  the  rays  of  light  shining 
from  the  sun  upon  the  tree  while  it  was  growing, 
year  after  year,  in  the  field  or  forest.  And  now, 
when  it  is  burning,  it  simply  releases  or  throws 
out  that  light,  which  was  derived  from  the  sun, 
and  which  was  stored  up  in  the  wood  of  the 
tree  while  it  was  growing. 

Now,  this  coal  is  simply  a  portion  of  a  tree 
which  grew  many,  many  hundreds  or  thousands 


THE   LIGHT    OF   THE   WORLD.  1 3/ 

of  years  ago,  and  which,  In  some  great  convulsion 
of  nature,  was  buried  deep  under  the  surface  of 
the  earth  in  what  we  now  call  coal  mines.  The 
coal  has  undergone  some  chemical  changes,  but, 
nevertheless,  all  the  light  there  is  in  the  coal  is 
simply  that  buried  sunshine,  which  was  stored 
up  centuries  and  centuries  ago,  in  the  form  of 
vegetables  and  trees.  Now,  when  it  burns  in 
the  grate  or  in  the  furnace  it  simply  releases  that 
heat  and  warmth  and  light,  which  was  stored  up 
in  these  trees  many,  many  centuries  ago.  It  is 
simply  buried  sunshine  which  God  has  stored  up 
for  our  use.  The  same  is  true  of  the  light  of  the 
candle;  if  it  were  not  for  the  light  of  the  sun 
there  would  be  no  light  giving  power  In  any  oil 
or  tallow,  or  In  this  carbon,  which  is  used  in  the 
electric  light;  they  all  derive  their  light  from  the 
sun  itself. 

Just  so  it  IS  with  all  the  truth  and  righteousness 
in  the  world.  When  you  see  a  man  who  is  good 
and  Christlike,  it  is  not  because  that  man  has  the 
power  in  himself  to  be  good,  but  it  Is  because 
he  has  derived  that  power  from  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  The  light  of  the  Son  of  Righteousness 
has  shone  into  that  man's  heart,  and  the  light  that 
goes  out  through  his  daily  conduct  and  character, 
is  only  the  light  of  the  Son  of  God  shining  out 
though  this  man. 


138  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

All  objects  which  live  in  the  sunlight  drink  in 
this  light-giving  power,  and  all  people  who  live 
daily  in  the  light  of  the  Son  of  Righteousness 
will  partake  of  His  nature  and  of  this  character, 
and  then  live  that  nature  and  character  in  their 
own  daily  lives.  In  this  way  they  do  as  Jesus 
commanded,  let  their  lights  so  shine,  that  others 
seeing  their  good  work,  glorify  their  Father  who 
is  in  heaven. 


LANTERNS. 

THE   BEST    LIGHT   FOR    OUR    PATH. 

I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  a  boy  or  girl  here 
this  morning  who  could  tell  me  what  this  thing 
is,  that  I  hold  in  my  hand.  It  is  a  lantern,  a 
very  different  lantern  possibly,  from  that  which 
any  of  you  have  ever  seen.  This  is  the  kind  of 
lantern  that  your  grandfather  and  my  grandfather 
used  many  years  ago,  in  the  days  when  they  did 
not  have  lamps,  and  gas,  and  electric  lights,  and 
such  things  as  we  enjoy  to-day.  When  I  was 
a  small  boy  in  the  country  we  used  only  to 
have  candles.  Later  on  ih  life,  I  remember 
when  they  first  had  fluid  lamps,  and  then  kero- 
sene oil,  and  then  gas,  and  then,  as  we  have  it 
now,  electric  lights. 

In  the  second  congregation  to  which  I  minis- 
tered, there  was  an  old  gentleman  who  had  one 
of  these  lanterns.  He  lived  some  distance  from 
the  church,  and  very  dark  nights  you  could  always 


Objects  used:  A  lantern,  and,  if  available,  one  of  the  very  old 
fashioned  tin  lanterns  all  perforated  to  allow  the  light  to  shine 
through  the  holes. 

139 


140  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

see  him  coming  across  the  hill,  carrying  this 
strange  lantern.  After  the  candle  was  lighted 
and  placed  inside,  the  light  shone  out  through 
these  small  holes,  and  if  the  wind  blew  very 
hard,  the  light  was  liable  to  blow  out. 

Now,  here  is  a  better  lantern.  David  says  of 
God's  Word,  "Thy  word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet, 
and  a  light  unto  my  path."  On  a  dark  night  in 
the  country,  you  could  not  go  out  of  doors  and 
move  about  without  running  up  against  a  tree,  or 
the  fence,  or  falling  into  the  ditch,  or  soon  finding 
yourself  involved  in  serious  difficulties;  and  so 
people  in  the  country  carry  a  lantern  at  night. 
In  the  Eastern  countries  where  Jesus  lived, 
where  they  do  not  have  gas  and  electric  lamps 
to  light  the  streets,  when  people  go  out  at  night 
they  always  carry  a  lantern.  And  so  David  said, 
"  Thy  word  is  a  lamp  under  my  feet,  and  a  Hght 
unto  my  path."     (Ps.  119:   105.) 

Now,  when  people  go  out  with  a  lantern  they 
do  not  hold  it  way  up  high,  but  hold  it  down 
near  their  feet,  so  that  they  can  see  the  path,  and 
it  enables  them  to  walk  with  security  and  safety. 
Sometimes  there  are  men  who  have  gone  to  col- 
lege, and  have  learned  Latin  and  Greek,  have 
studied  the  sciences  and  philosophy,  and  they 
think  they  have  learned  a  very  great  deal ;  per- 
haps afterwards  they  have  studied  medicine  and 


BEST    LIGHT   FOR   OUR   PATH.  I4I 

become  physicians,  or  have  read  law  and  become 
lawyers,  and  they  think  that  they  are  able  with 
all  that  they  know  to  find  their  path  through  life. 
They  think  they  have  light  enough  of  themselves. 
They  do  not  seem  to  know  that  all  about  them 
there  Is  a  darkness  of  great  mystery;  that  sin 
and  death  and  destruction  lurk  all  along  their 
way  through  life,  and  that  their  pathway  is  full  of 
snares,  and  pitfalls,  and  dangers,  but  they  try  to 
walk  with  the  little  light  that  there  is  In  the 
human  understanding. 

There  is  another  class  of  men  who  go  through 
college  and  who  may,  perchance,  study  much, 
and  the  more  they  study  the  more  they  come  to 
realize  how  little  they  know,  and  how  much  there 
is  beyond  them  that  they  do  not  understand  at 
all.  With  the  little  light  of  human  understand- 
ing they  comprehend  how  very  dense  and  dark 
are  the  mysteries  all  about  them,  and  so  In 
order  that  they  may  walk  safely  through  life,  and 
come  at  last  to  the  city  of  eternal  safety,  they 
take  God's  Word  "  as  a  lamp  to  their  feet,"  and 
just  the  same  as  a  person  in  the  country  carries 
a  lamp  in  order  that  he  may  find  his  path,  so 
these  good  people  take  the  Word  of  God  and 
they  make  it  the  lamp  unto  their  feet,  and  the 
light  unto  their  path. 

If  you  have  ever  been  in  the  country  upon  a 


142  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

dark  night  and  seen  the  engine  come  dashing 
along,  with  the  great  headlight  that  throws  the 
rays  of  Hght  far  down  along  the  track  enabling 
the  engineer  to  see  very  far  ahead  of  him,  you 
would  understand  what  the  Bible  purposes  to  do 
for  us,  when  God  says  that  he  will  make  it  a 
lamp  unto  our  feet,  and  a  light  unto  our  path. 

As  you  grow  older,  and  sorrow  and  sickness 
and  trials  come  to  you,  you  will  need  God's  Word 
to  be  a  lamp  unto  your  feet.  And  when  at  last 
the  messenger  of  death  shall  come  and  summon 
you  into  God's  presence,  and  you  go  through  "  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,"  you  will  then 
need  this  lamp  for  your  feet,  and  you  will  need 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  you,  that  you  may 
lean  upon  Him,  and  that  you  may  say  as  David 
did :  "  Yea  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  thou  art 
with  me,  thy  rod  and  thy  staff  they  comfort  me." 
May  God  give  you  this  light  through  the  jour- 
ney of  this  life,  and  bring  you  to  that  city  of 
light  and  life  on  high. 


CANDLES. 

CHRISTIAN   PEOPLE THEIR  RELATIVE   INFLUENCES. 

Boys  and  girls:  Two  Sundays  ago  I  sought  to 
show  you  how  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  Right- 
eousness, and  that  all  the  spiritual  Hght  there  is 
in  the  world  is  derived  from  Him.  When  Jesus 
was  upon  the  earth,  He  not  only  said  that  "  He 
was  the  light  of  the  world,"  but  He  also  said  to 
His  disciples,  "  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world," 
and  it  is  to  this  thought  that  I  want  to  call  your 
attention  this  morning. 

Now,  I  have  here  quite  a  number  of  candles, 
and  I  want  to  show  you  how  very  useful  these 
candles  may  be  made. 

Suppose  it  were  midnight,  and  all  was  very, 
very  dark  in  this  room,  and  I  should  take  this 
one  little  candle,  and  light  it,  just  as  I  shall  do 
now.  Do  you  not  see  how  this  candle,  though  it 
is  very  small,  would  be  of  very  great  service?  It 
would  be  sufficient  to  enable  me  to  see  for  some 


Objects  used :    Several  candles  of  various  sizes  and  various 
colors. 

143 


144  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

little  distance  at  least,  in  the  midst  of  the  darkness 
by  which  I  would  be  surrounded. 

Now,  this  Httle  candle,  being  very  small,  will 
aptly  represent  the  children  in  the  infant  depart- 
ment. Sometimes  children,  and  older  people 
also,  think  that  the  little  ones  are  too  small,  and 
too  young,  to  exercise  any  influence  for  good. 
But  that  is  a  very  great  mistake.  I  once  had 
a  little  boy  in  my  Sunday-school,  whose  father 
did  not  attend  church.  On  Sunday  the  father 
would  take  this  little  boy  out  for  a  walk.  But 
when  they  had  started,  each  time  the  little 
boy  would  ask  his  papa  to  take  him  to  church. 
But  the  father  did  not  want  to  go  to  church. 
And  so  he  would  propose  to  the  little  boy  that 
they  should  go  to  their  grandmother's,  and  you 
know,  children  are  always  pleased  to  go  and  visit 
their  grandma  and  their  grandpa.  But  the  httle 
boy  again  and  again  would  ask  his  papa  to  go  to 
church  with  him,  until  finally  the  father  consented, 
and  the  little  boy  brought  him  to  church.  From 
Sunday  to  Sunday  he  continued  to  bring  his 
papa  to  church,  and  that  little  boy  exerted  such 
an  influence  over  his  father  that  he  became  a 
Christian,  and  united  with  the  Church  and  be- 
came a  faithful  attendant.  So  you  see  that  even 
a  small  child  may  exert  a  very  great  influence. 
There  are  many  instances  given  of  parents  and 


INFLUENCE   OF    CHRISTIAN    PEOPLE.  1 4$ 

others  who  have  been  saved  through  the  influence 
of  young  children. 

Here  is  a  larger  candle;  I  will  light  this  also. 
This,  you  see,  gives  somewhat  more  light  than 
the  small  candles.  This  will  represent  those  in 
the  intermediate  department  of  the  Sunday- 
school. 

Here  is  a  candle  which  is  larger  still,  and  you 
will  see  now,  when  I  light  it,  that  it  gives  more 
light  than  either  of  the  others.  Still  the  light  of 
the  others  are  also  a  very  great  assistance.  As 
boys  and  girls  become  older,  their  influence  be- 
comes greater  and  greater.  So  it  is  important 
that  very  early  they  should  exert  the  right  kind 
of  influence. 

Now,  here  is  a  still  larger  candle.  Indeed, 
this  is  quite  a  large  candle.  This  would  possibly 
represent  the  Sunday-school  teacher,  or  the 
superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school,  or  possibly 
the  preacher,  because  they  occupy  such  posi- 
tions as  enable  them  to  exert  a  wider  influence 
in  life  than  those  who  are  not  Sunday-school 
teachers  and  Sunday-school  superintendents  and 
ministers. 

'When  these  candles  are  all  lighted  and  placed 
here  together,  you  see  what  a  large  amount  of 
light  they  give  out.  If  this  room  was  all  dark, 
the  combined  light  of  these  candles  would  dispel 


146  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

the  darkness  for  a  very  great  distance.  They 
would  make  it  quite  Hght  in  the  entire  room. 
So  when  all  the  children  in  the  infant  department, 
and  the  boys  and  girls  in  the  intermediate  de- 
partment, and  the  young  men  and  young  women 
in  the  Bible  classes,  and  the  older  men  and  the 
older  women,  and  the  teachers,  and  the  superin- 
tendent, and  the  pastor,  and  all,  let  their  light 
shine  for  Jesus,  you  see  what  a  very  great  in- 
fluence they  must  exert  not  only  in  the  church, 
but  upon  the  entire  community  by  which  we  are 
surrounded.  I  trust  that  we  may  all  unite  in  one 
constant  and  continued  effort  to  dispel  the  dark- 
ness of  sin  and  evil  by  which  we  are  surrounded, 
and  that  this  church  may  become  a  very  great 
blessing  to  the  entire  community.  That  it  may 
become  as  Jesus  said,  "a  city  set  upon  a  hill  that 
cannot  be  hid,"  and  thus  let  its  light  shine  every- 
where. 

But  before  I  conclude  this  sermon  I  want  to 
show  you  some  of  these  colored  candles  which  I 
have.  Here  is  a  small  red  candle,  and  here  is  an- 
other, a  very  pretty  green  candle.  Now  I  will 
light  them  and  stand  them  by  the  side  of  the 
others.  You  see  at  once  that  they  give  no  more 
light  than  the  pure  white  candle.  They  are 
rather  pretty  to  look  at,  but  they  are  no  more 
serviceable.     So  it  is  with  the  boys  and  girls  in 


INFLUENCE    OF   CHRISTIAN    PEOPLE.  1 4/ 

the  Sunday-school.  Some  may  feel  that  because 
they  do  not  have  fine  clothes,  because  they  have 
not  as  nice  a  hat  or  shoes  as  somebody  else, 
therefore  they  could  not  exert  as  much  influence 
for  Jesus.  That  is  a  very  great  mistake.  This 
candle  gives  no  more  light  than  the  other  candles, 
and  so  children  who  are  clothed  in  the  plainest 
and  least  costly  clothing  can  exert  a  very  wide 
influence  for  Christ. 

But  here  is  still  one  more  colored  candle;  this 
is  the  prettiest  of  them  all.  This  is  indeed  a 
very  beautiful  candle ;  it  is  much  larger  than  the 
little  candles  I  have  just  shown  you.  You  will 
notice  also  that  I  do  not  light  this  candle,  and 
you  may  wonder  why  it  is  that  I  have  not  lighted 
it.     I  will  tell  you  why  I  do  not  light  this  candle. 

I  did  not  buy  it  for  the  purpose  of  lighting  it. 
These  candles  are  not  sold  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  light.  They  are  sold  as  ornaments.  When 
you  go  into  some  parlors  you  will  see  them 
standing  on  the  mantel.  They  are  very  pretty, 
and  are  placed  there  to  ornament  the  room. 
This  kind  of  a  candle  very  fittingly  represents 
some  people  in  the  church.  They  are  very  nice 
people,  and  very  correct  people  indeed;  they  are 
splendid  people  in  every  respect.  You  like  to 
meet  them ;  you  like  to  look  at  them ;  they  are 
very  agreeable,  and  very  social,  and  very  nice 


148  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

people  to  have  about ;  but  after  all,  In  the  great 
work  of  the  Church,  they  are  not  of  much  service. 
They  come  to  church  on  Sunday  morning,  when 
the  weather  is  pleasant.  When  there  is  any 
position  of  honor  to  be  occupied,  they  always  fill 
it  with  grace  and  honor  to  themselves,  but  when 
the  dark  Sunday  nights  come,  or  the  unpleasant 
days,  or  when  the  Wednesday  night  service 
comes,  these  people  are  never  present.  They 
are  the  people  who  do  not  go  into  dark  places  of 
the  earth  to  let  their  lights  shine  for  Jesus,  but 
are  apt  to  think  more  of  themselves  than  they 
do  of  those  for  whom  Jesus  would  have  them 
labor  and  give  their  lives  a  living  sacrifice.  Jesus 
says,  "  Let  your  light  so  shine  before  men  that 
others  seeing  your  good  works  may  glorify,"  not 
you,  but  "  your  Father  which  is  in  Heaven." 

A  (cw  important  thoughts  remain  in  reference 
to  letting  our  light  shine,  which  I  will  present  to 
you  next  Sunday  morning. 


CANDLES. 

HOW   TO    REFLECT,    OBSCURE,    OR   EXTINGUISH    THE 
LIGHT. 

Little  shining  lights  :  Last  Sunday  I  prom- 
ised to  bring  back  some  of  these  candles  in  order 
further  to  illustrate  the  text,  "  Ye  are  the  light  of 
the  world."  In  a  previous  sermon  I  have  shown 
you  how  all  the  light  in  the  world  is  derived  from 
the  sun,  and  how  all  the  light  in  the  spiritual  world 
is  derived  from  Jesus  Christ.  Now,  this  morning,  I 
want  to  show  you  that  we  can  extinguish  this  light. 
While  we  cannot  prevent  the  sun  from  shining,  or 
put  out  the  light  there  is  in  the  sun,  yet  we  can 
extinguish  the  candle.  We  can  blow  out  the 
light,  we  can  turn  off  the  gas,  we  can  cut  off  the 
electrical  current,  and  thus  prevent  the  carbon 
from  burning  and  giving  light.  Just  the  same 
as  the  fireman  can  extinguish  a  large  fire  that  is 
making  a  great  blaze  in  the  midst  of  a  dark  night, 
so  we  can  put  out  these  several  lights. 

Before  this  candle,  which  I  hold  in  my  hand. 


Objects  used :    A  candle,  silver  dollar,  bottle  with  large  neck, 
and  a  flask-shaped  bottle. 

149 


150  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

can  be  of  any  service  to  me  in  giving  light,  it 
must  first  itself  be  lighted.  So  it  is  with  every 
individual  who  is  born  into  this  world.  He  has 
no  light  in  himself.  Before  ever  he  can  exert 
any  influence  for  good  upon  others,  or  let  any 
Christian  light  shine,  he  must  come  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  and  receive  this  light.  He  must  be 
licrhted  from  above.     But  now  after  it  has  been 

o 

lighted,  suppose  that  I  take  this  silver  dollar 
which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  and  place  it  in  front  of 
the  light,  you  will  see  immediately  how  it  makes  it 
Impossible  for  the  light  to  shine  out  in  front  of 
the  dollar.  Those  who  are  sitting  down  here  in 
front  of  me  cannot  see  this  light.  The  light  is 
entirely  concealed  by  the  dollar.  So  some  people 
allow  the  love  of  money  to  gather  around  their 
hearts,  until  at  last  their  money  Is  placed  between 
them  and  the  people  whom  God  intends  that 
they  should  benefit  and  bless  in  this  world.  In- 
stead of  being  a  help,  their  money  is  only  a 
hindrance  in  their  Christian  life.  They  love 
their  money  so  much  that  they  permit  the  poor 
to  go  hungry,  the  destitute  to  be  unblessed,  and 
the  Church  to  be  without  the  money  necessary 
to  carry  on  its  work.  They  allow  the  heathen 
to  die  in  their  ignorance.  Selfishly  grasping 
their  money,  they  neglect  to  do  that  for  which 
God  has  given  them  the  means  and  the  money. 


REFLECTING   AND   OBSCURING   THE   LIGHT.     I5I 

I  believe  that  money  is  a  good  thing.  The 
Bible  says  that  it  is  the  love  of  money,  the  undue 
love  of  it,  that  makes  It  the  root  of  all  evil.  Money 
itself  is  a  blessing  and  not  a  curse ;  therefore  I 
want  to  show  you  how  this  dollar  can  be  made 
to  help  in  making  this  light  shine  even  more 
brightly.  You  will  see  that  I  have  had  this  side 
of  the  dollar  ground  off  and  polished,  so  that  it  is 
very  smooth  and  bright.  Now,  when  I  place 
this  bright  surface  back  of  the  candle,  instead  of 
acting  as  it  did  when  I  placed  the  dollar  between 
you  and  the  candle,  it  only  reflects  the  light,  it 
throws  the  rays  of  light  out  further  than  they 
could  otherwise  shine.  It  helps  to  accomplish 
for  the  candle  the  same  important  service  which 
the  great  reflector  does  when  placed  behind  the 
lamp  in  the  headlight  of  the  engine,  throwing 
the  light  way  down  the  track  in  advance  of  the 
coming  of  the  train. 

In  the  same  way,  when  a  Christian  has  money, 
you  see  how  he  can  readily  use  it  in  such  a  way 
as  to  enable  him  to  accomplish  a  very  great  and 
grand  work  in  the  world.  The  man  who  has  lots 
of  money  and  has  a  consecrated  heart,  and  is 
willing  to  use  his  money  to  help  him  in  his  work 
for  Christ,  will  be  able  to  accomplish  very  much 
more  than  the  man  who  has  no  money.  He  can 
use  his  money  in  such  a  way  that  it  will  enable 


152  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

him  to  cast  a  light  in  many  a  dark  corner  of  the 
earth,  to  bring  Hght  in  many  a  desolate  home, 
and  to  cast  the  rays  of  his  Christian  influence 
even  across  the  ocean  into  benighted  heathen 
lands.  In  this  way  his  money  can  be  used  as  I 
have  used  this  dollar,  and  thus  carry  his  influence 
to  the  end  of  the  earth  and  to  the  end  of  time, 
and  become  a  great  blessing  to  himself  and  others 
for  all  eternity. 

Jesus  said,  "  Men  do  not  light  a  candle  and  put 
it  under  a  bushel,  but  on  a  candle-stick  that  it 
may  give  light  to  all  that  are  in  the  house." 
There  are  some  people  who  do  not  like  to  let 
their  light  shine  for  Christ.  They  do  not  want 
others  to  know  that  they  are  Christians.  They 
do  not  want  others  to  know  that  they  are  trying 
to  be  good.  And  so  they  seek  to  conceal  their 
light,  to  hide  it,  as  Jesus  says,  "  under  a  bushel." 
If  you  were  to  light  a  candle  and  put  it  under  a 
bushel,  or  under  a  box,  the  box  would  prevent  it 
from  shining,  and  therefore  you  would  not  know 
that  there  was  any  light  at  all  in  the  room. 

But  I  want  to  show  you,  by  the  aid  of  this 
large  necked  bottle,  what  is  the  effect  of  our  try- 
ing to  hide  our  light.  I  have  chosen  this  bottle 
because  you  can  see  through  it,  and  observe  what 
is  going  on  inside  of  this  glass  bushel  or  bottle. 
The  neck  being  very  large,  you  can  readily  see 


REFLECTING    AND    OBSCURING    THE    LIGHT.     I53 

that  the  light  is  not  absolutely  smothered.  Now, 
when  I  place  this  bottle  over  the  light,  you  will 
see  how  very  quickly  it  begins  to  grow  dim  and 
dimmer.  There,  you  see,  it  has  gone  out  already. 
Just  as  quickly  as  it  burns  out  from  the  air  the 
oxygen  which  it  contains,  the  light  dies,  because 
it  has  nothing  to  feed  upon.  If  I  had  not  placed 
this  bottle  over  it,  it  would  have  contined  to 
burn. 

Just  so  it  is  with  those  who  try  to  hide  their 
light  under  a  bushel.  Afier  the  light  has  been 
placed  there,  it  gradually  grows  more  faint,  and 
more  faint,  and  then  goes  out  in  darkness. 
You  can  never  be  a  Christian  if  you  are  ashamed 
of  Christ.  You  must  be  willing  to  let  you  light 
shine;  you  must  be  willing  to  confess  Christ 
before  men  ;  you  must  be  willing  to  have  other 
boys  and  girls  know  that  you  are  a  Christian, 
and  that  you  are  trying  to  do  right.  Then  with 
God's  help  you  will  succeed.  But  if  you  try  to 
hide  your  light  under  a  bushel,  you  will  never 
succeed  in  being  a  Christian. 

Here  is  another  bottle.  I  am  sure  that  the 
shape  of  this  bottle  will  suggest  to  you  the  kind 
of  stuff  which  is  oftentimes  sold  in  this  kind  of 
a  flask.  Sometimes  when  young  men  have 
given  their  hearts  to  Christ,  and  young  women 
too  for  that  matter,  they  go  out  in  company  and 


154  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

are  invited  to  take  a  drink  of  wine  or  a  drink  of 
beer,  or  something  else,  and  without  any  pur- 
pose or  thought  of  ever  becoming  a  drunkard, 
they  soon  form  the  habit  of  drinking.  Soon 
they  have  formed  a  love  for  the  taste  of  liquor, 
and  before  ever  they  know  it,  like  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  others  who  have  preceded  them, 
they  have  become  fond  of  liquor,  and  are  on  a 
fair  road  to  become  a  drunkard.  As  soon  as  a 
young  man  starts  out  in  this  direction  he  takes 
the  road  that  leads  down  to  death  and  destruc- 
tion, and  the  love  of  God  which  he  had  in  his 
heart  soon  dies  out.  Let  me  place  this  bottle 
over  the  candle.  You  will  now  see  how  the 
candle  begins  to  grow  dim,  and  the  light  shines 
more  and  more  dim,  and  now,  after  a  very  few 
seconds,  you  will  find  that  it  goes  out  in  dark- 
ness. 

Let  me  say  to  you  all,  both  young  men  and 
young  women,  avoid  the  terrible  and  destruc- 
tive influences  of  drink,  of  which  this  bottle 
is  the  symbol.  If  you  want  to  keep  the  love  of 
God  in  your  heart  you  must  never,  never  take 
the  first  step  which  leads  toward  the  love  of 
liquor,  toward  intemperance  and  a  drunkard's 
grave. 


WATER. 

JESUS  AND   earth's    MORAL   DESERTS. 

My  young  FRIENDS :  I  will  not  ask  you  what  it 
is  that  I  have  in  this  glass,  and  in  this  bottle,  for 
I  am  quite  sure  from  the  color  you  would  not  be 
able  to  tell  whether  it  is  water  or  some  other 
kind  of  fluid. 

You  know  we  often  sing  the  hymn,  "  Jesus  the 
water  of  life  will  give,  freely,  freely,  freely." 
Now,  in  the  Bible,  Jesus  Christ  is  represented  as 
"  the  Water  of  Life,"  and  I  want  to  talk  to  you 
this  morning  about  water. 

I  suppose  that  in  school  some,  and  perhaps 
many,  of  you  study  geography,  and  you  have 
come  to  know  that  there  are  certain  countries  in 
which  it  seldom  or  never  rains.  These  countries 
are  called  deserts.  We  have  such  a  desert  in 
Africa,  and  known  as  the  great  Sahara  Desert. 

Then  there  are  other  countries  in  which  it  does 
not  rain  as  frequently  as  it  does  in  this  country  in 
which  you  and  I  live.    That  was  the  case  in  Pales- 


Object  used :  A  glass  or  bottle  of  water. 
155 


156  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

tine,  where  Jesus  lived.     It  often  did  not  rain  fof 
months,  and  sometimes  even  for  years.     A  well 
that  would  supply  water  at  all  periods  and  at  al? 
times  was  regarded  as  of  great  value.     There 
fore  it  was  that  Jacob's  well  was  mentined  in  th<i 
Scriptures  as   a  thing   worthy  of  note.     Ther 
were  numerous  other  wells,  but  they  did  not  fur 
nish  a  supply  of  water  in  all  times  of  drought. 
The  individual  who   owned  a  well   that  would 
supply  water  at  all  times  was  regarded  as  pos- 
sessing a  very  great  fortune. 

Now,  in  the  countries  where  it  does  not  rain 
at  all,  they  have  what  we  have  already  designa- 
ted as  a  desert — a  place  where  there  is  perpetual 
drought,  where  there  is  no  rain  ;  and  where  there 
is  no  rain,  there  is  no  grass,  there  are  no  trees, 
no  birds,  no  animals,  no  men,  no  houses,  nothing 
but  sand,  or  dry,  parched  earth  as  far  as  the  eye 
can  see.  You  will  understand  then  that  it  is 
very  important  that  we  should  have  rain,  so  that 
the  earth  may  be  quickened,  and  that  the  grass 
and  vegetation  and  human  life  may  be  sustained. 

So  there  are  lands  where  there  is  not  only  no 
rain,  but  there  are  also  lands  in  which  the  people 
die  of  spiritual  thirst.  The  spiritual  nature,  that 
which  is  good  within  us,  cries  out  after  God  and 
after  truth,  and  after  that  which  is  holy,  and 
right,  and  pure ;  but  these  people  do  not  know 


EARTH'S    MORAL   DESERTS.  1 5/ 

anything  about  God,  or  heaven ;  do  not  have 
the  Bible  to  tell  them  what  is  right  and  what  is 
pure  and  what  is  good,  and  therefore  their  noblest 
and  highest  nature  perishes  and  dies  for  the  need 
of  water,  the  water  of  life. 

These  moral  deserts  we  call  heathen  countries, 
such  as  Africa,  and  India,  and  China,  Japan  and 
many  other  countries,  in  which  they  do  not  have 
the  blessings  which  you  and  I  enjoy  in  this  coun- 
try. Where  they  have  no  Bibles,  no  churches,  no 
Sunday-schools,  no  Christian  homes,  neither  do 
they  have  the  other  things  which  accompany  and 
grow  out  of  Christianity,  such  as  intelligence  and 
education,  cars  and  telegraphs,  telephones  and 
phonographs,  and  all  other  kinds  of  machinery. 
The  heathen  have  only  the  most  ordinary  kind 
of  clothing,  sometimes  none  at  all,  and  only  the 
commonest  and  coarsest,  and  only  the  most  un- 
palatable kinds  of  food. 

What  these  people  most  of  all  need  in  order 
that  they  may  be  lifted  up  from  their  degrada- 
tion is  to  have  the  Word  of  God  and  to  find 
Jesus  Christ,  who  is,  to  all  who  believe  upon 
Him,  a  well  of  water  springing  up  unto  everlast- 
ing life,  even  in  their  own  hearts. 

Now,  it  it  your  duty  and  my  duty  to  send  the 
heathen  this  Word  of  Life.  The  missionaries 
and  the  Bible  and  the  good  books  which  we  send 


158  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

to  them  tell  them  of  God  and  of  heaven,  and  of 
everlasting  salvation,  and  when  they  shall  have 
accepted  of  Christ  and  obey  the  teachings  of 
God's  Word  they  will  have  all  the  other  material 
blessings  also,  which  come  with  Jesus  Christ,  and 
with  whom  God  also  gives  us  all  things  richly 
to  enjoy. 


BREAD. 

UNIVERSAL   SOUL   HUNGER. 

My  little  friends  :  I  am  sure  that  every  boy 
and  girl  in  this  room  knows  what  it  is  to  be 
hungry.  It  is  a  part  of  our  childhood  experience 
to  feel  hungry  almost  every  day.  While  the 
body  is  growing  there  is  almost  a  constant  de- 
mand for  nourishment  and  food. 

We  have  here  a  small  loaf  of  bread ;  it  is  called 
a  Vienna  roll,  and  here  is  a  small  biscuit.  Now 
this  is  bread,  only  baked  in  small  loaves.  As 
people  all  over  the  world  have  hunger,  so  bread 
in  one  form  or  another  has  become  the  universal 
food  of  the  world.  When  in  the  Lord's  Prayer 
we  ask  God  to  "  give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread," 
we  mean  not  simply  bread  made  of  flour,  but  we 
mean  necessary  food,  food  of  all  kinds;  and  so 
the  word  bread  has  come  to  be  used  to  signify 
all  kinds  of  wholesome  food.  God  gives  us  our 
food  day  by  day,  just  the  same  as  each  morning 
the   manna   rained  down  from   heaven  for  the 


Objects  used :    Rolls,  biscuits,  or  bread. 
159 


l60  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

Children  of  Israel  while  they  were  journeying 
through  the  desert.  God  does  not  send  it  to  us 
in  just  the  same  way,  but  each  day  he  furnishes 
us  a  sufficient  amount  of  food  to  sustain  our 
bodies. 

Now,  as  there  is  universal  hunger,  and  God 
has  made  provision  to  supply  the  food  necessary 
to  satisfy  the  hunger  of  the  body ;  so  there  is 
universal  hunger  of  the  soul,  and  God  has  also 
made  provision  to  satisfy  this  universal  hunger 
of  our  higher  spiritual  nature.  In  the  seventh 
chapter  of  the  Gospel  by  St.  John,  you  will  find 
much  said  about  the  food  for  the  higher,  the 
spiritual  nature.  Jesus  said,  "  Verily,  verily  I 
say  unto  you,  Moses  gave  you  not  that  bread 
from  heaven,  but  my  Father  giveth  you  the 
true  bread  from  heaven.  For  the  bread  of  God 
is  He  which  cometh  down  from  heaven  and 
giveth  life  unto  the  world." 

The  body  is  sustained  by  the  food  which 
grows  up  out  of  the  earth,  because  the  body  is 
earthy.  But  to  sustain  the  higher  and  spiritual 
nature  of  man,  which  is  from  heaven,  the  food 
is  sent  down  from  heaven,  and  therefore  Jesus 
also  says,  "The  bread  of  God  which  cometh 
down  from  heaven,  and  giveth  life  unto  the 
world,"  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life,  he  that  cometh 
to  me  shall  never  hunger,  and  he  that  believeth 


UNIVERSAL    SOUL    HUNGER.  l6l 

on  me  shall  never  thirst."  And  in  the  forty- 
eighth  verse  of  that  same  chapter  He  says,  "  I 
am  the  bread  of  life ;  your  fathers  did  eat  manna 
in  the  wilderness  and  are  dead.  This  is  the 
bread  which  cometh  down  from  heaven,  that 
man  may  eat  thereof  and  not  die.  I  am  the  liv- 
ing bread  which  came  down  from  heaven;  if 
any  man  eat  of  this  bread  he  shall  live  forever, 
and  the  bread  that  I  will  give  him  is  my  flesh, 
which  I  will  give  for  the  life  of  the  world." 

Now,  when  you  desire  to  be  good,  when  you 
desire  to  live  like  Christ,  you  desire  to  know 
more  concerning  Him;  and  when  you  desire  to 
read  God's  Word,  and  to  learn  of  that  which  is 
holy  and  good  and  right,  then  you  have  this 
spiritual  hunger.  That  is  the  kind  of  hunger  of 
which  Jesus  was  speaking  in  this  chapter.  The 
presence  of  Jesus  in  the  soul  and  the  knowledge 
of  Him  that  is  given  in  the  Bible  is  the  best 
kind  of  food  for  our  spiritual  nature.  This  was 
the  kind  of  spiritual  food  upon  which  Joseph  fed 
when  he  lived  in  the  midst  of  idolatrous  Egypt. 
It  was  upon  these  spiritual  truths  that  David  and 
Daniel  and  Paul  and  Luther  fed  daily,  and  this 
nourished  their  spiritual  natures.  I  trust  you  all 
have  this  hunger  for  the  bread  of  life.  Jesus 
said,  "  Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and 
thirst  after  righteousness,  for  they  shall  be  filled." 


1 62  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

Did  you  ever  see  a  plant  growing  at  the  window 
in  a  crock  and  observe  how  it  bends  towards 
the  h'ght?  If  you  turn  the  crock  around  so  that 
the  plant  bends  inward  toward  the  room,  after  a 
day  or  two  you  go  to  the  plant  and  it  will  have 
changed  its  direction,  and  instead  of  bending 
into  the  room,  it  will  be  bending  out  toward  the 
window.  Now  this  plant  feeds  on  the  light  from 
the  sun,  and  on  that  account  it  reaches  out  to- 
ward the  sun.  So  if  you  hunger  after  that  which 
is  good,  you  will  reach  out  after  God,  just  as  the 
plant  reaches  out  after  the  sun. 

This  kind  of  bread  which  I  hold  in  my  hand 
costs  something.  Flour  costs  several  dollars  a 
barrel,  and  bread  from  five  to  ten  cents  a  loaf. 
In  times  of  famine  bread  has  sometimes  been 
sold  at  many  hundreds  of  dollars  for  one  single 
loaf.  But  the  bread  of  life  is  free  ;  it  costs  noth- 
ing. Everybody  can  have  spiritual  food  for  the 
simple  asking  for  it.  Therefore  it  is  that  we  go 
to  God  in  prayer  and  ask  Him  for  every  good 
and  helpful  grace  and  blessing;  that  we  ask  Him 
for  His  presence  in  our  hearts,  and  to  make  us 
good,  and  to  help  us  to  become  like  Christ. 

But  there  are  some  who  have  this  hunger  after 
that  which  is  good,  but  they  do  not  know  about 
God  and  about  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  They  do 
not  have  any  Bibles.     Therefore  it  is  my  duty 


UNIVERSAL   SOUL   HUNGER.  1 63 

and  your  duty  to  send  them  the  bread  of  ever- 
lasting life.  It  is  for  this  purpose  that  we  give 
our  money  for  missions  that  missionaries  may  be 
sent  to  them  to  tell  them  of  God  and  His  love, 
and  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour,  and  to  take 
them  the  Bible. 

In  order  that  we  may  be  strengthened  by 
bread,  it  is  necessary  that  we  eat  it,  and  that  we 
should  assimilate  it  and  make  it  our  own,  in 
order  that  we  may  become  strong.  We  might 
die  of  hunger  in  the  midst  of  great  store-houses 
of  food.  So  men  and  women  die  spiritually  in 
the  midst  of  churches,  in  the  midst  of  Bibles, 
Bible  influences  and  Bible  privileges,  yes,  die 
without  Christ.  In  order  that  our  spiritual  na- 
tures may  be  fed  with  spiritual  food,  we  have 
every  Christian  influence  in  our  homes,  we  have 
the  Sunday-school  and  the  Catechetical  class, 
and  the  Church  with  its  preaching  service,  and 
prayer  meetings  and  other  services.  If  you  de- 
sire to  be  good,  you  must  study  your  Bibles,  come 
to  Sunday-school,  come  to  church,  and  seek  to 
know  all  you  possibly  can  concerning  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  receive  Him  into  your  hearts, 
and  live  a  Christian  life  by  His  aid  and  the  grace 
which  God  will  grant  you  from  day  to  day. 


THE  STONE. 

THE  NATURAL  AND  CHANGED  HEART. 

Now,  boys  and  girls,  if  these  older  people  will 
be  very  quiet  while  you  listen  to  your  sermon, 
then  afterwards  you  will  be  very  quiet  while  they 
listen  to  their  sermon. 

I  have  here  a  stone,  which  because  of  its  peculiar 
shape  reminds  me  of  the  human  heart.  But  if  I 
take  a  pin  and  prick  this  stone  it  has  no  feeling 
whatever.  If  I  take  this  pin  and  prick  the  back 
of  my  hand,  I  feel  it  immediately.  It  is  very 
unpleasant.  Indeed,  I  do  not  like  to  endure  it. 
This  stone  has  no  feeling.  If  I  were  to  love 
this  stone,  the  stone  would  never  be  conscious 
of  it.  I  might  bestow  great  gifts  upon  this  stone, 
I  might  purchase  fruit  for  it,  and  everything  that 
you  and  I  might  love  for  food,  the  finest  clothing 
also,  the  most  costly  lands  and  houses,  or  even 
very  great  honor,  and  yet  this  stone  would  know 
nothing  of  it.  It  would  always  be  insensible  of 
all  that  I  might  do  for  it. 


Object  used :  A  stone  resembling  the  heart  in  size  and  shape. 
164 


NATURAL   AND    RENEWED    HEART.  J  65 

Now  the  Bible  represents  the  natural  heart  as 
being  wicked.  We  are  told  in  the  Bible  that  our 
hearts  have  no  feeling ;  that  God  loves  us,  and 
yet  we  do  not  appreciate  it;  that  God  bestows 
upon  us  our  daily  food,  and  that  He  clothes  us, 
and  blesses  us  with  every  good,  and  has  provided 
for  us  mansions  in  the  skies,  and  that  He  desires 
to  give  us  everlasting  salvation.  He  loves  us  so 
much  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  Jesus 
Christ,  to  die  for  us,  and  yet  with  the  natural 
heart  no  one  ever  loves  God,  or  appreciates  any- 
thing that  He  has  done  for  us.  And  so  God 
desires,  as  He  tells  us  in  the  Bible,  to  take  away, 
out  of  our  flesh,  this  heart  of  stone,  and  give  us 
a  heart  of  flesh,  so  that  we  may  appreciate  and 
love  Him  in  return  for  all  that  He  has  done  for  us. 

The  heart  is  spoken  of  in  the  Bible  as  the  seat 
of  the  affections,  and  therefore  it  is  that  God 
desires  us  to  have  a  new  heart,  a  changed  heart, 
a  heart  that  can  love  Him.  The  Bible  says  that 
each  one  is  to  keep  his  heart  with  all  diligence,  for 
out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life.  We  are  told  also 
that  "  the  heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things  and 
desperately  wicked." 

Many  years  ago  in  England  there  was  a  man 
by  the  name  of  John  Bunyan.  I  suppose  you 
have  all  heard  of  his  wonderful  book  entitled  the 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress."     I  hope  that  many  of  you 


1 66  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

have  read  it.  All  of  you  should  read  it,  if  you 
have  not  yet  done  so.  Get  your  mother  or  father 
to  read  it  for  you,  if  you  cannot  read  it  your- 
self. 

This  man  Bunyan  also  wrote  a  book  entitled 
the  "  Holy  War."  In  this  book  he  represents  the 
human  soul  or  the  human  heart  as  a  city,  and 
calls  it  the  "City  of  Mansoul."  This  city  has 
various  gates,  and  at  all  these  gates  the  enemy  is 
trying  to  gain  admission  into  the  city,  so  that 
they  may  capture  it.  It  is,  indeed,  a  very  apt 
illustration  of  the  human  heart.  Do  you  know 
that  your  heart  is  like  a  city,  and  that  Satan  is 
trying  to  capture  and  to  get  possession  of  it? 
Indeed,  he  may  already  have  possession  of  it. 
And  when  God  by  His  grace  shall  come  and  cast 
out  Satan  and  all  his  evil  friends,  they  will  come 
back  and  try  to  get  into  the  city  again.  He  will 
come  to  the  various  gates  of  the  city  ;  for  your 
heart  has  various  avenues  of  approach,  which 
may  be  called  gates.  There  is  eye-gate.  Satan 
comes  and  he  appeals  to  you  and  tries  to  get  into 
your  heart  through  the  eye.  Bad  pictures  that 
are  posted  upon  the  bulletin  boards  along  our 
streets,  and  wicked  things  upon  which  you  and  I 
ought  not  to  look — worthless  papers,  bad  books — 
these  Satan  desires  to  have  us  look  upon,  and  in 
that  way  get  evil  thoughts  into  our  minds  and 


NATURAL  AND  RENEWED  HEART.      1 6/ 

wicked  purposes  into  our  hearts,  so  that  he  can 
once  more  get  possession  of  our  hearts. 

Then  he  comes  to  ear-gate,  and  tries  to  get 
into  our  hearts  through  our  ears.  There  are 
wicked  songs,  and  bad  stories,  and  wicked  words 
that  men  pour  into  our  ears,  even  when  we  walk 
along  the  streets.  And  so  Satan  tries  to  get  into 
our  hearts  through  ear-gate,  and  he  tries  to  get 
into  our  hearts  through  what  I  will  call  mouth- 
gate.  He  tempts  our  appetite,  and  would  have 
us  eat  things  which  would  injure  us,  or  drink  that 
which  would  harm  us.  And  so  he  tries  to  get  a 
boy  to  smoke,  or  to  drink,  if  at  first  only  beer,  or 
something  else,  until  at  last  Satan  makes  a  drunk- 
ard of  him.  So  Satan  would  get  into  the  heart 
through  mouth-gate.  And  when  he  cannot  get 
into  the  heart  through  mouth-gate,  or  any  other 
way,  he  oftentimes  approaches  mouth-gate  by 
way  of  nose-gate.  By  the  smell  of  something 
that  is  pleasant  he  tempts  the  appetite,  and  thus 
would  lead  us  astray. 

And  then  he  would  also  approach  our  hearts 
through  the  sense  of  feeling.  There  are  many 
wicked  things  that  Satan  tempts  people  to  do  in 
order  to  give  them  pleasure,  and  so  he  seeks  to 
get  into  their  hearts,  and  to  get  entire  control  of 
them,  and  in  that  way  to  get  God  out  of  their 
hearts. 


1 68  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

The  best  thing  that  you  and  I  can  do,  is  to  ac- 
cept of  God's  invitation,  where  He  says,  "  My 
son  give  me  thine  heart."  I  trust  that  you  will 
give  your  heart  earnestly  and  fully  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  He  will  take  away  this  heart  of 
stone  out  of  your  flesh,  and  give  you  a  heart  of 
flesh.  He  will  keep  your  heart  securely  for  you, 
if  you  will  only  give  it  fully  to  Him. 


THE  POLISHED  STONE. 

PERFECTION   THROUGH    SUFFERING. 

My  little  men  and  women  :  I  trust  you  are 
all  trying  to  be  good,  and  perhaps  while  you 
have  been  trying  to  be  a  follower  of  Jesus  you 
have  desired  many  things  and  hoped  that  God 
would  give  them  to  you,  because  you  were  trying 
to  do  right,  and  yet,  perhaps,  you  have  been  dis- 
appointed because  God  did  not  grant  your  wish. 
You  have  been  seeking  to  be  faithful,  and  yet, 
perhaps,  sickness  has  come  to  you,  or  disap- 
pointment and  sorrow.  Perhaps  sickness  and 
death  has  come  into  your  family.  Your  papa  or 
your  mamma  has  been  taken  away  by  death,  and 
you  have  been  left  very  sad  and  lonely,  and  you 
have  come  to  wonder  how  it  is,  if  God  loves  you, 
that  He  does  not  grant  you  just  what  you  wish, 
and  that  He  permits  sickness  and  sorrow  and 
bereavement  to  come  to  you  and  to  your  home. 

When  you  have  looked  about  you,  you  have 
seen  many  good  people  who  have  been  in  much 
distress,  oftentimes    in    poverty,  afflicted    with 

Object  used:  A  piece  of  marble  or  any  polished  stone. 
169 


I/O  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

sickness,  bereaved,  and  left  in  great  sorrow  and 
disappointment.  When  you  have  taken  up  your 
Bibles  you  have  found  that  the  same  was  true 
many  hundreds  of  years  ago.  David  was  greatly 
afflicted.  Paul  had  his  thorn  in  the  flesh.  The 
disciples  were  often  cast  into  prison,  and  very 
likely  at  last  all  of  them  were  put  to  death,  as 
their  Master  had  been  before  them. 

Now  I  want  to  illustrate  to  you  this  morning 
why  God  permits  sorrow  and  affliction  to  come 
to  us.  I  have  here  two  stones,  both  taken  out 
of  the  same  quarry.  This  one  is  polished  and 
has  a  very  beautiful  surface.  It  is  very  beautiful, 
not  only  to  look  at,  but  it  would  be  beautiful  in 
any  place  you  might  choose  to  put  it.  This 
other  is  rough  and  jagged,  and  not  at  all  pleasant, 
either  to  handle  or  to  look  upon.  This  rough 
stone  can  be  made  useful,  but  it  would  be  no 
more  useful  than  any  other  rough  and  unsightly 
stone.  It  would  do  very  well  to  place  in  the 
foundation  of  a  building,  to  be  all  covered  up 
with  mortar  and  have  other  stones  laid  on  top  of 
it;  to  be  built  in  the  foundation  down  below  the 
ground,  where  no  one  would  ever  see  it.  But  it 
would  be  of  no  special  value  for  anything  other 
than  that. 

I  think  this  polished  stone  may  very  properly 
represent  Christian  people.     For  long,  long  years 


PERFECTION  THROUGH   SUFFERING.  I /I 

this  Stone  had  been  lying  peacefully  and  quietly 
in  its  rocky  bed.  But  one  day  a  man  who  pur- 
posed to  build  a  very  beautiful  palace  or  a  very 
beautiful  cathedral  came  along,  and  he  found 
that  the  great  rocks  in  a  certain  portion  of  the 
country  contained  stone  that  could  be  polished 
very  beautifully.  They  could,  therefore,  be  made 
very  useful  in  constructing  his  palace  or  cathe- 
dral. So  he  sent  a  large  number  of  men  to  the 
quarry  and  they  began  to  drill  great  holes  in  the 
rock.  Now,  if  these  rocks  had  any  feeling  you 
can  see  at  once  that  they  would  object  to  having 
such  great  holes  drilled  into  their  sides,  because 
it  would  hurt  a  great  deal.  But  after  the  men 
had  the  holes  drilled  they  put  powder  in  them 
and  blasted  off  great  pieces  of  these  rocks.  Then 
these  great  blocks  were  hauled  away  and  placed 
in  the  hands  of  stonemasons,  who  began  with 
chisels  and  mallets  to  cut  and  carve.  After  that, 
with  some  fine  sand  or  emery,  or  something  of 
that  kind,  other  men  ground  and  polished  the 
face  of  the  stone  until  it  became  very  beautiful. 
Now,  if  these  stones  had  had  feeling,  you  can 
see  at  once  that  they  would  have  objected  to  be- 
ing chiselled  and  cut,  and  carved,  and  ground, 
and  polished.  This  process  would  hurt  so  much 
that  the  stones  would  have  cried  out,  and  asked 
to  be  delivered  from  such  a  painful  process. 


1/2  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

It  is  related  of  Michael  Angelo  that  one  time 
he  was  passing  a  quarry  where  large  blocks  of 
beautiful  marble  were  being  taken  out.  In  one 
large  block  he  saw  a  beautiful  angel.  He  or- 
dered the  block  to  be  taken  to  his  studio,  or  the 
place  where  he  studied  and  worked.  And  then 
he  put  his  men  at  work  to  chisel  off  the  rough 
corners,  and  thus  to  deliver  the  angel  out  of  the 
rough  pieces  by  which  it  was  surrounded.  After 
many  days  and  weeks,  and  perhaps  months  of 
working,  in  which  this  large  block  of  marble  had 
to  submit  to  a  great  deal  of  chiselling  and  carv- 
ing, and  cutting,  and  poHshing;  lo!  and  behold, 
the  beautiful  angel  was  all  carved  out  and  stood 
complete  and  perfect.  It  was  polished  and  was 
made  very  beautiful,  and  when  it  was  set  up,  it  was 
the  delight  of  every  one  who  looked  upon  it.  But 
all  this  was  only  made  possible  by  that  cutting 
and  carving,  which  would  have  been  very  painful 
to  the  marble  if  it  had  been  possessed  of  feeling. 

I  think  you  will  begin  to  see  that  these  things 
which  we  call  troubles  and  trials,  after  all,  are  well 
calculated  by  God  to  bring  out  that  which  is 
noblest  and  best  in  us. 

When  you  grow  older  you  will  come  to  say 
like  Paul,  that  you  know  that  *•  tribulation  worketh 
patience,  and  patience  experience,  and  experience 
hope,  and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed."     You  will 


PERFECTION   THROUGH   SUFFERING.  1/3 

then  come  to  understand  that  these  things  **  work 
out  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal 
weight  of  glory,"  and  like  Paul,  you  will  learn 
to  be  "  patient  in  tribulation."  One  time  when 
Paul  and  Barnabas  were  at  Lystra  and  healed  a 
cripple,  the  people  were  moved  against  Paul  by 
some  wicked  Jews  from  Antioch  and  Iconium, 
and  they  pursued  Paul  and  threw  large  stones  at 
him  and  hit  him  with  such  great  force  that  he  fell 
down,  and  they  supposed  that  he  was  dead.  But 
Paul  was  not  dead,  and  afterwards  when  he  met 
some  of  the  Christian  people  at  that  and  at  other 
places,  when  they  talked  to  him  about  it,  and 
thought  that  It  was  very  hard  that  God  should 
have  permitted  these  wicked  people  to  stone  him, 
Paul  told  these  Christians  that  "  through  much 
tribulation  we  must  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven." 

But  I  must  not  detain  you  longer.  I  want 
simply  to  say  in  closing  that  when  St.  John  had 
been  banished  to  the  Isle  of  Patmos  and  was  per- 
mitted to  have  a  view  of  heaven,  and  looked  into 
that  glorious  city,  he  saw  a  great  company,  and 
he  inquired  of  the  angel  who  these  people  were. 
The  angel  replied:  "These  are  they  which  came 
out  of  great  tribulation,  and  have  washed  their 
robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb.     Therefore  are  they  before  the  Throne  of 


174  OBJECT   SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

God  and  serve  Him  day  and  night  in  His  temple; 
and  He  that  sitteth  upon  the  Throne  shall  dwell 
among  them.  They  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither 
thirst  any  more;  neither  shall  the  sun  light  on 
them,  nor  any  heat.  For  the  Lamb  which  is  in 
the  midst  of  the  Throne  shall  feed  them,  and 
shall  lead  them  unto  living  fountains  of  water ; 
and  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their 
eyes."     (Rev.  7:   14-17.) 

If  in  our  sickness,  or  sorrow,  or  disappointment 
here  upon  the  earth,  we  are  sad  or  lonely,  let  us 
remember  that  in  the  happy  home  to  which  we 
go,  we  shall  be  forever  with  the  Lord,  and  that 
all  tears  shall  be  wiped  away,  and  that  we  shall 
be  happy  forever  and  ever  on  high.  It  is  only 
through  these  tribulations  that  you  and  I  can 
be  prepared  to  enter  heaven.  If  God  were  to 
give  us  everything  we  want,  like  children  who 
are  indulged,  we  would  soon  be  spoiled  and 
would  not  be  fit  for  the  enjoyment  of  heaven  or 
the  companionship  of  the  angels. 


A  BROKEN  CHAIN. 

BREAKING    THE    WHOLE    LAW. 

My  LITTLE  MEN  AND  WOMEN  I  I  have  here  a 
chain ;  it  is  very  strong  indeed.  It  has  ten  hnks 
in  it.  You  will  remember  how  that,  more  than 
three  thousand  years  ago,  God  gave  the  Ten 
Commandments  to  Moses  on  Mt.  Sinai.  These 
Ten  Commandments  are  often  called  the  Dec- 
alogue, because  there  are  ten  of  them ;  the  Greek 
word  deka  means  ten. 

Now  the  Bible  tells  us  that  "  whosoever  shall 
keep  the  whole  law,  and  yet  offend  in  one  point, 
he  is  guilty  of  all."     (James  2:   10.) 

When  a  boy,  I  often  wondered  how  it  was  that 
when  a  person  broke  one  of  the  Commandments 
he  was  guilty  of  breaking  the  whole  law.  I  could 
not  understand  it.  Now,  I  desire  to  illustrate 
this  truth  to  you  this  morning.  Suppose  that  I 
were  suspended  over  the  edge  of  a  great  rock  by 
this  chain.  If  the  chain  should  break,  I  would 
be  plunged  headlong,  hundreds  of  feet  down  a 


Object  used :    A  chain  of  any  kind. 
175 


1/6  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDrvEN. 

very  great  embankment,  upon  rocks  at  the  bottom 
of  the  chasm,  and  lose  my  hfe.  You  will  readily 
see  that  it  would  not  be  necessary  to  break  every 
link  in  this  chain  before  I  would  begin  to  fall. 
In  order  to  break  this  chain,  it  is  only  necessary 
to  break  a  single  link.  The  moment  one  link 
breaks,  the  entire  chain  is  broken. 

I  think  you  will  see  that  it  is  just  the  same 
way  with  the  law  of  God.  If  you  break  one  of 
these  Commandments,  you  have  broken  the  law. 
If  you  fail  to  "  remember  the  Sabbath  day  to 
keep  it  holy,"  or  if  you  disobey  your  parents, 
and  thus  break  the  Commandment  which  says, 
"honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother,"  or  any  other 
of  the  Commandments — if  you  break  a  single  one, 
you  have  broken  the  entire  chain  of  the  Ten 
Commandments. 

Now,  there  are  a  great  many  laws  in  this  land 
of  ours.  There  are  laws  against  murder,  and 
there  are  laws  against  stealing,  and  there  are 
laws  against  getting  drunk,  and  thousands  of 
other  laws.  Now,  if  a  man  simply  steals  and 
should  be  caught  in  the  act  and  brought  before 
the  judge,  he  would  be  convicted  of  the  crime 
and  be  sent  to  prison.  It  is  not  necessary  that  a 
man  should  be  a  murderer  and  a  thief  and  a  robber, 
and  should  be  guilty  of  breaking  all  the  laws  of 
this  land,  before  he  is  cast  in  prison.    It  is  simply 


THE  BROKEN   LAW.  1 77 

enough  that  he  should  have  violated  one  law. 
By  breaking  only  one  law  he  becomes  a  criminal, 
and  therefore  he  is  cast  into  prison.  The  man 
who  has  committed  one  murder  has  his  entire 
liberty  taken  from  him.  The  man  who  has  been 
caught  in  the  act  of  stealing  but  a  single  time  is 
judged  a  thief,  and  all  his  liberty  is  taken  from 
him. 

So  I  think  you  will  see  that,  in  order  to  be- 
come a  criminal,  it  is  not  necessary  that  we 
should  break  all  the  laws  of  the  land,  but  if  we 
break  a  single  law  we  become  a  criminal.  So  it 
is  with  the  law  of  God ;  if  we  break  only  one 
of  the  Ten  Commandments  we  are  criminals  be- 
fore God,  we  are  guilty  of  all. 

Now  the  laws  which  we  make  in  this  coun- 
try and  every  other  country  are  human  laws. 
They  are  not  absolutely  perfect.  They  are 
changed  and  improved  from  time  to  time. 
But  the  Psalmist  tells  us,  and  we  all  know 
it  to  be  true,  that  "  The  law  of  the  Lord  is 
perfect,"  and  God  requires  us  to  keep  this  law. 
He  says,  *'  My  son  forget  not  my  law,  but  let 
thine  heart  keep  my  commandments ;  for  length 
of  days  and  long  life  and  peace,  shall  they  add  to 
thee."  (Prov.  3:1.)  If  you  and  I  are  faithful  in 
the  keeping  of  God's  law,  then  we  can  say  like 
David,  **  I  shall  not  be  ashamed  when  I  have  re- 


178  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

si>ect  unto  all  of  thy  commandments."  (Psalms 
119:6.) 

Now,  if  I  take  this  chain,  and  attempt  to  break 
it,  I  find  that  God  has  not  given  me  sufficient 
strength.  Samson  could  have  snapped  it  in  a 
moment,  but  I  am  not  strong  enough.  God  has 
given  to  some  men  much  more  strength  than 
to  others. 

If  I  were  to  pull  very  hard  on  this  chain  so  as 
to  break  it,  where  do  you  suppose  it  would  break 
first?  Why  the  weakest  link  in  the  entire  chain 
would  be  the  first  to  break.  No  chain  is  stronger 
than  its  weakest  link.  So  it  is  with  you  and 
with  me,  our  greatest  goodness  is  only  as  great 
as  our  greatest  weakness.  When  men  want  to 
think  how  good  they  are  they  think  of  the 
best  things  they  have  ever  done.  But  the 
fact  is  that  no  man  is  better  than  the  worst 
things  he  has  ever  done.  A  man  who  has  com- 
mitted murder  is  a  murderer;  he  is  no  better 
than  a  murderer.  He  cannot  be  regarded  any 
better  than  a  murderer.  He  might  have  done 
hundreds  of  good  things,  but  the  law  does  not 
estimate  him  by  the  best  things  he  has  done. 
The  law  estimates  that  man  by  the  worst  thing 
he  has  done,  and  by  that  worst  thing  he  is 
judged  and  condemned.  And  so  it  is  with  you 
and  me  before  God.     The  worst  things  which  we 


THE   BROKEN   LAW.  1 79 

have  ever  done  will  be  the  things  which  will  con- 
demn us  in  the  sight  of  the  Judge  of  all  the 
world. 

While  I  am  not  able  to  break  this  metal  chain, 
yet  God  has  made  it  possible  for  each  individual 
here  to-day  to  break  the  chain  of  the  moral  law. 
God  has  given  human  freedom  to  all  men;  he  has 
told  us  what  we  should  do,  but  he  has  left  us 
free  to  obey  or  to  disobey. 

Now,  when  we  examine  into  the  requirements 
of  the  Ten  Commandments  we  find  that  every- 
body has  violated  some  one  or  more  of  them  at 
some  time.  There  is  not  a  man  or  woman  or 
child  here  this  morning  who  is  not  guilty  of  hav- 
ing broken  God's  law.  And  when  I  turn  to 
the  Scriptures,  I  find  in  Deuteronomy  the  27th 
chapter,  26th  verse,  that  God  says,  "Cursed 
be  he  that  confirmeth  not  all  the  words  of  this 
law  to  do  them."  I  see  then  by  God's  Word 
that  we  are  all  sinners,  that  we  are  all  guilty 
before  God,  because  we  have  violated  His  law, 
and  next  Sunday  I  will  tell  you  what  is  to  be 
done  in  view  of  the  fact  that  we  are  all  guilty 
before  God. 


LOOKING-GLASS. 

SEEING   OURSELVES  IN  GOD's  LAW. 

My  dear  boys  and  girls  :  In  my  sermon  last 
Sunday,  I  showed  you  that  God  had  made  the 
law  perfect,  but  that  we  did  not  keep  the  law, 
that  we  have  all  broken  the  law,  and  God  has 
said,  "  Cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not 
in  all  things  which  are  written  in  the  book  of  the 
law  to  do  them."     (Gal.  3  :  10.) 

If  the  law  is  perfect,  and  no  one  has  ever  kept 
it  perfectly,  but  all  have  broken  the  law  in  some 
one  way  or  another,  and  on  that  account  all  are 
guilty  before  God,  you  may  ask,  what  is  the 
purpose  of  the  law?  Why  did  God  make  the 
law  ?  Now,  I  desire  to  explain  that  to  you  this 
morning. 

I  have  here  a  looking-glass.  Now  the  Bible 
compares  the  law  to  a  looking-glass.  In  the 
epistle  or  letter  of  James,  in  the  first  chapter,  we 
are  told,  "  if  any  be  a  hearer  of  the  word,  and 
not  a  doer,  he  is  like  unto  a  man  beholding  his 
natural  face  in  a  glass ;  for  he  beholdeth  himself. 


Object  used  :  A  looking-glass  of  any  size  desired. 
180 


LOOKING   INTO    GODS    LAW.  l8l 

and  goeth  his  way,  and  straightway  forgetteth 
what  manner  of  man  he  was.  But  whoso  looketh 
into  the  perfect  law  of  Hberty,  and  continueth 
therein,  he  being  not  a  forgetful  hearer,  but  a  doer 
of  the  work,  this  man  shall  be  blessed  in  his 
deed."     (James  i  :  23-25.) 

In  other  words  the  Bible  means  to  say  that 
the  law  of  God  is  like  a  looking-glass.  We  read 
the  law  of  God,  and  we  see  just  what  God  re- 
quires that  we  should  be.  He  enables  us  to  see 
what  he  requires  of  us.  It  shows  us  also  how 
imperfect  we  are.  It  shows  us  our  sins.  It  re- 
veals to  us  the  importance  of  doing  something  in 
order  to  get  rid  of  our  sins. 

It  is  just  like  a  man  whose  face  is  all  dirty. 
When  he  goes  to  the  looking-glass  and  look  sin, 
he  sees  the  dirt  upon  his  face.  If  he  did  not  look 
into  the  glass,  other  people  might  see  that  his 
face  was  dirty,  but  he  would  not  see  it  himself. 
But  when  he  looks  into  the  glass,  he  sees  for 
himself  that  his  face  is  all  black. 

Now,  when  the  man  finds  that  his  face  is  all 
dirty,  he  does  not  take  the  looking-glass  with 
which  to  wash  his  face.  The  looking-glass  was  not 
made  to  wash  our  faces  with.  It  was  only  'made 
to  show  us  that  our  faces  needed  to  be  washed. 
And  then,  instead  of  using  the  looking-glass  to 
wash  our  faces,  we  go  and  take  soap  and  water. 


1 82  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

Now,  the  looking-glass  did  not  make  the  man's 
face  black,  neither  will  it  wash  his  face.  It  sim- 
ply shows  him  that  his  face  is  dirty. 

So  it  is  with  the  law  of  God.  The  law  of  God 
does  not  make  us  sinful.  We  are  sinful,  whether 
there  be  any  law  or  not.  The  law  is  simply  de- 
signed to  show  us  that  we  are  sinners,  and  that 
we  are  wicked,  and  that  we  need  a  Saviour. 
And  when  this  law  reveals  to  us  our  sin,  and 
shows  us  our  need  of  a  Saviour,  it  purposes,  as 
we  are  told  in  the  Scriptures,  to  lead  us  to  Christ 
(Galatians,  3 :  24).  No  man  can  cleanse  or 
wash  away  his  sins  by  the  aid  of  the  law.  But 
the  law  plainly  shows  him  his  sins,  and  then 
leads  him  to  Christ — to  the  fountain  which  has 
been  opened  for  sin  and  uncleanness.  It  is  all 
very  beautifully  expressed  in  that  hymn  which,  I 
trust,  you  all  know : 

«  There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood, 
Drawn  from  Immanuel's  veins  ; 
And  sinners  plunged  beneath  that  flood, 
Lose  all  their  guilty  stains." 

Now,  I  want  to  tell  you  the  effect  of  coming 
to  this  fountain  and  washing.  When  we  come 
our  sins  and  guilt  are  washed  away,  and  we  be- 
come more  like  Christ.  We  are  cleansed  from 
sin;  we  are  made  more  pure  and  holy.  And 
then  we  grow   up   into    His  likeness   and  into 


LOOKING   INTO    GOD'S   LAW.  1 83 

His  image,  and  into  His  stature.  We  become 
more  and  more  like  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  from 
day  to  day.  This  change  which  takes  place  in 
our  hearts  and  in  our  lives  is  very  wonderful. 
We  cannot  understand  it,  but  we  cease  to  be  in- 
tentionally wicked.  More  and  more  we  become 
holy.  It  is  this  wonderful  change  which  is  re- 
ferred to  in  Second  Corinthians,  third  chapter 
and  the  eighteenth  verse,  where  it  says,  **  But  we 
all,  with  open  face  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the 
glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same 
image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord." 

I  think  now,  you  will  understand  why  we  have 
the  law.  It  is  not  to  make  us  wicked,  for  we  are 
wicked  already.  But  it  is  to  show  us  our  wicked- 
ness. It  is  to  reveal  to  us  the  fact  that  we  are 
sinners,  and  that  we  are  lost  and  undone  without 
a  Saviour.  And  then  it  reveals  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  to  us,  and  we  come  to  Him,  the  same  as 
men  with  blackened  faces  go  to  the  fountain  to 
wash.  So  we  come  with  our  sins  and  our  guilt 
"to  the  fountain  which  has  been  opened  for  sin 
and  uncleanness,"  and  we  wash  all  our  sins  and 
guilt  away;  and  then  we  are  changed  into  His 
image  and  into  His  likeness,  from  glory  to  glory, 
until  at  last,  in  the  world  on  high,  we  awake  in 
the  likeness  of  Jesus. 


THE  WORDLESS  BOOK. 

SIN,  SALVATION,  PURITY,  GLORY. 

If  in  my  audience  this  morning,  either  among 
the  boys  and  girls,  or  among  the  older  peo- 
ple, there  should  be  any  individual  who  cannot 
read,  I  hope  to  be  able  to  teach  them  in  a  few 
moments  so  they  will  be  able  to  read  this  little 
book  which  I  hold  in  my  hand.  This  book  has 
four  very  interesting  chapters.  The  first  three 
chapters  contain  a  history  of  a  Christian  upon 
the  earth,  and  the  fourth  chapter  contains  the 
history  of  a  Christian  in  heaven. 

All  the  chapters  in  this  book  are  like  this  first 
chapter  which  I  now  show  you,  at  least  in  one 
respect,  that  they  have  not  a  single  character  in 
them,  such  as  we  know  as  A,  B,  C,  or  any  ot 
the  twenty-six  letters  of  the  alphabet.  You  will 
see  that  these  two  pages  are  simply  printed  plain 
black.    They  are  a  representation  of  every  human 


Object  used :  A  copy  of  a  little  "  Wordless  Book  "  published 
by  the  Willard  Tract  Repository,  921  Arch  street,  Philadelphia. 
It  sells  at  ten  cents  a  copy  and  is  very  excellent  and  suggestive. 

184 


SIN,  SALVATION,  PURITY,  GLORY.      1 85 

heart  in  its  natural  condition  and  as  God  sees  it. 
In  the  sight  of  God  a  wicked  heart  is  as  black  as 
the  pages  which  I  now  present  to  you.  The 
Bible  tells  us  that  ''  all  have  sinned  and  come 
short  of  the  glory  of  God."  (Rom.  3:  23.) 
"There  is  none  that  doeth  good,  no,  not  one." 
(Ps.  14:3.)  "  We  are  all  as  an  unclean  thing, 
and  all  our  righteousness  are  as  filthy  rags." 
(Isaiah  64 :  6.) 

While  every  individual  in  this  audience  this 
morning  desires  to  get  to  heaven  and  to  be 
happy  with  God  forever,  yet  the  Bible  tells  us, 
"  There  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  heaven  any- 
thing that  defileth,  neither  whatsoever  worketh 
abomination  or  maketh  a  lie,  but  they  which 
are  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life."  (Rev. 
21  :  27.)  Now,  if  the  natural  heart  is  so  wicked 
in  the  sight  of  God  that  it  looks  as  black  as  these 
two  pages,  and  as  God  tells  us  that  He  "  cannot 
look  upon  sin  with  any  degree  of  allowance,"  the 
question  comes,  how  can  you  and  I  ever  get  to 
heaven  ? 

I  now  turn  over  from  these  black  pages  to 
others  of  a  very  different  color.  These,  as  you 
see,  are  very  bright  red,  the  color  of  blood.  This 
represents  the  redeeming  blood  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Lamb  of  God  who  came  to  be  slain  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world.     Just  the  same  as  the 


1 86  OBJECT   SERMONS    TO    CHILDREN. 

sacrifices  were  offered  up  in  Jerusalem  many 
hundreds  of  years  ago,  so  Jesus  Christ  came  to 
be  the  Lamb  of  God  to  take  away  the  sin  of  the 
world,  and  therefore  it  is  that  the  scripture  says, 
*'  Ye  were  not  redeemed  with  corruptible  things, 
as  silver  and  gold,  but  with  the  precious  blood 
of  Christ,  as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish  and  with- 
out spot."     (I.  Peter,  i:   i8,  19.) 

The  Bible  also  tells  us  that  "  All  things  are  by 
the  law  purged  with  blood;  and  without  the 
shedding  of  blood  is  no  remission."  (Heb.  9:  22.) 
It  was  on  this  account  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
slain;  that  he  might  redeem  us  to  God  by  his 
blood.  (Rev.  5  :  9.)  You  know  we  sing:  "  There 
is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood,  drawn  from  Im- 
manuel's  veins;  and  sinners  plunged  beneath  that 
flood,  lose  all  their  guilty  stains." 

When  sin  has  made  our  hearts  all  black  be- 
fore God,  and  we  feel  that  we  cannot  come  into 
His  presence,  it  is  then  that  we  fly  to  this  foun- 
tain, which  has  been  open  for  sin  and  unclean- 
ness,  and  in  the  blood  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
wash  all  our  sins  and  guilt  away. 

People  oftentimes  say  that  they  turn  over  a 
new  leaf.  Now,  I  will  turn  over  a  new  leaf  and 
you  will  see  how  very  different  this  next  chapter 
looks  from  from  that  which  we  have  already 
read.     The  first  was  very  black ;  the  second  was 


Sin,  salvation,  purity,  glory.  187 

red  to  represent  the  blood  of  Jesus,  and  the 
washing  away  of  the  blackness  of  our  sin  and 
guilt.  This  chapter  is  white — pure  white — to 
represent  the  purity  of  the  human  heart  after  it 
has  been  washed  in  the  blood  of  Jesus.  In  the 
Bible  we  are  told  that  "  He  (God)  hath  made 
Christ  to  be  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin;  that  we 
might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in 
Him."     (H.  Cor.  5:  21.) 

I  think  that  you  will  readily  understand  how 
it  is,  that  when  our  hearts  are  all  blackened  by  sin, 
we  can  yet  be  saved,  and  be  made  fit  to  enter 
heaven,  where  all  is  purity  and  holiness  and 
happiness  and  glory. 

I  now  turn  to  the  fourth  and  last  chapter  in 
this  little  book,  which  you  have  by  this  time 
learned  to  read,  as  I  promised  you  in  the  begin- 
ning. These  two  pages  are  covered  with  gold, 
and  represent  the  glory  which  there  is  in  heaven, 
laid  up  for  all  those  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  When  John,  the  aged  disciple,  was  per- 
mitted to  look  into  heaven,  he  saw  some  very 
wonderful  things ;  and  in  the  very  interesting  ac- 
count which  he  gives  us  in  the  book  of  Revela- 
tion, in  the  twenty-first  chapter,  he  tells  us,  "  The 
city  was  of  pure  gold,  like  unto  clear  glass,"  "and 
the  street  of  the  city  was  pure  gold,"  and  it  is 
on  that  account  that  the  last  chapter  of  this  little 


1 88  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

book  represents  the  glory  of  heaven  in  this  gold- 
leaf. 

In  the  book  of  Colossians,  in  the  3d  chapter 
and  the  4th  verse,  we  are  told  that  "  When  Christ, 
who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye  also 
appear  with  Him  in  glory." 

When  you  have  finished  reading  a  good  book, 
it  is  always  wise  to  turn  back  to  the  very  first 
page  and  review  the  book.  As  I  turn  back  again 
you  see  that  this  first  chapter  is  black,  the  sec- 
ond chapter  is  red,  the  third  chapter  is  white, 
and  the  fourth  chapter  is  gold,  representing  sin, 
redemption,  holiness,  and  glory. 

I  am  sure  that  now  every  individual  in  this 
audience  can  read  this  little  book.  I  hope  that 
you  all  may  experience  that  which  is  related  in 
these  chapters,  and  that  at  last  you  may  be  happy 
forever  with  God  in  heaven. 


WHISKEY. 

THE  CHARACTER  AND  EFFECTS  OF  ALCOHOL. 

My  dear  young  friends:  I  want  to  talk  to 
you  this  morning  about  the  nature  and  effects  of 
alcohol.  My  text  you  will  find  in  Proverbs,  23: 
32 :  "At  last  it  biteth  like  a  serpent  and  stingeth 
like  an  adder."  The  word  alcohol  comes  to  us 
from  Arabia,  and  in  the  language  of  that  country 
was  two  words,  "  El  Gohul,"  and  meant  "  great 
evil  spirit." 

Now  I  have  here  in  this  bottle  some  pure 
alcohol,  which  I  bought  at  the  drug  store.  In 
this  other  bottle  I  have  some  water,  which  is  as 
pure  as  it  flows  from  our  hydrants.  One  of  the 
characteristics  of  alcohol  is  that  it  will  always 
burn,  and  now  when  I  pour  some  in  this  shallow 


Objects  used :  A  small  bottle  each  of  water,  alcohol,  brandy 
or  any  other  spirituous  liquor,  and  a  small  size,  large-necked 
bottle  containing  the  white  of  an  egg.  Also  a  small  and  shal- 
low dish  in  which  to  burn  some  alcohol  and  liquor.  Be  sure 
that  you  have  a  dish  that  will  not  be  broken  by  the  heat,  or  you 
may  seriously  burn  your  hand,  or  even  endanger  the  building. 
If  the  dish  is  thin  it  is  safer  to  place  a  larger  dish  beneath  the 
smaller. 

189 


190  OBJECT   SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

dish  and  apply  a  match  to  it,  you  will  see  how 
quickly  it  takes  fire.  I  will  only  pour  in  a  very 
small  quantity,  and  after  being  careful  to  cork  the 
bottle  and  remove  it  a  safe  distance  I  will  light  that 
which  I  have  in  the  dish.  There  !  You  see  how 
it  takes  fire  immediately.  The  flame  does  not 
give  much  light,  but  when  I  hold  my  hand  above 
it,  I  find  it  is  very  hot.  Now  that  the  flame  has 
gone  out,  I  will  turn  the  dish  over,  so  that  you 
may  see  that  it  has  all  been  burned  away.  Not  a 
drop  remains. 

I  will  now  pour  into  this  same  dish  a  small 
quantity  of  water  and  an  equal  quantity  of  alcohol. 
Now,  let  us  apply  the  match  again,  and  see 
whether  the  alcohol  will  burn  when  it  is  mixed 
with  water.  Yes,  it  burns  just  the  same  as 
though  there  were  no  water  mixed  with  it. 
When  the  alcohol  is  all  burned  away,  the  flame 
will  die  out,  just  the  same  as  it  did  before.  I  will 
now  empty  the  water  out  of  the  dish  that  you 
may  see  the  final  result. 

In  this  bottle  I  have  some  of  the  best  French 
brandy  which  I  could  buy  at  the  drug  store. 
Such  as  is  sold  to  persons  who  desire  to  use  it 
for  medicine.  I  will  pour  some  of  this  into  the 
dish,  and  if  it  has  alcohol  in  it  you  may  expect 
to  see.  it  burn,  the  same  as  when  alcohol  and 
water  are  mixed  together. 


CHARACTER  AND  EFFECTS  OF  ALCOHOL.   I9I 

There  It  is !  You  can  see  the  result  with  your 
own  eyes.  The  alcohol  burns  just  the  same  as 
before.  Now  when  the  alcohol  is  all  burned  out 
of  the  brandy,  the  other  ingredients  remain .  You 
may  see  for  yourselves  that  there  must  have 
been  a  goodly  amount  of  alcohol,  or  it  would  not 
have  burned  so  long.  That  which  remains  I  will 
now  empty  out,  so  that  you  may  see  how  much 
of  it  is  not  alcohol.  The  alcohol  is  only  one  of 
a  number  of  bad  things  often  found  in  brandy 
and  other  kind  of  liquors  which  make  men  and 
women  drunk. 

Now,  here  I  have  a  bottle  in  which  I  have 
placed  the  white  of  an  egg.  You  see  how  clear, 
like  glass,  it  looks  ?  If  I  were  to  pour  water 
upon  it,  it  would  not  affect  its  color;  but  in- 
stead of  water  I  will  pour  alcohol  into  this 
bottle  with  the  egg.  You  see  how  the  egg  is 
immediately  affected?  It  begins  to  look  as 
though  it  were  being  poached,  or  like  the  white 
of  an  egg  looks  when  it  has  been  boiled  and 
you  break  the  shell.  If  you  were  to  eat  a  poached 
egg  your  body  would  get  strength  by  it,  but  if 
you  were  to  take  this  egg  which  has  been  affected 
by  the  alcohol  and  place  it  in  your  stomach,  it 
would  not  give  your  body  any  strength,  but  in- 
stead, it  would  give  you  pain. 

Now,  there  are  people  who  think  that  when 


192  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

they  have  eaten  a  hearty  dinner,  digestion  is  as- 
sisted by  pouring  some  liquor  into  the  stomach. 
That  theory  is  almost  wholly  false.  Every  boy 
knows  that  if  he  were  to  hurt  his  finger  and  the 
doctor  should  cut  it  off,  if  he  desired  to  keep  the 
finger  after  it  was  cut  off,  he  would  have  to  put 
it  in  alcohol  to  prevent  it  from  decomposing. 
Alcohol  will  resist  the  action  of  the  air,  and  it 
will  also  resist  the  action  of  the  stomach  and  of 
the  fluids  in  the  stomach  also. 

If,  however,  I  were  to  drink  milk,  after  it  has 
passed  into  my  stomach  it  would  be  digested, 
and  a  goodly  portion  would  be  changed  from 
milk  to  bone  and  muscle  in  my  arm,  to  nails  on 
the  ends  of  my  fingers,  to  hair  on  the  top  of  my 
head,  and  all  through  my  system  it  would  be 
changed,  until  it  became  a  part  of  my  own  body. 
But  if  I  take  alcohol,  either  pure  or  mixed  with 
anything  else,  and  place  it  into  my  stomach,  my 
stomach  is  unable  to  digest  it,  and  whether  in 
this  bottle  or  in  my  stomach,  or  when  flowing 
through  my  blood,  or  wherever  it  is  in  any  part 
of  my  body,  it  is  always  alcohol.  It  does  not 
sustain  life,  but  it  is  an  enemy  everywhere  and 
all  the  while. 

Just  as  soon  as  I  have  swallowed  it,  my  whole 
nature  is  engaged  in  throwing  it  out  of  the  sys- 
tem.    The   lungs   throw   it  out  in   the   breath; 


CHARACTER   AND   EFFECTS   OF   ALCOHOL.      1 93 

the  stomach  rebels  against  its  presence,  and 
oftentimes  makes  the  man  feel  very  sick,  and  he 
is  compelled  to  throw  it  all  up  again. 

If  more  alcohol  is  poured  in  the  system  than 
can  be  thrown  off,  then  this  alcohol  becomes 
mixed  with  the  blood,  and  wherever  it  flows 
through  the  system  it  irritates.  This  it  is  that 
makes  men's  noses  and  eyes  and  faces  all  fiery — 
the  same  as  if  the  irritating  enemy  had  been  ap- 
plied on  the  outside  of  the  body,  instead  of  on 
the  inside;  as  a  mustard  plaster  or  some  strong 
liniment,  or  any  other  irritating  enemy  makes 
the  skin  very  red  and  irritated. 

But  now,  if  alcohol  will  burn,  you  might  ask 
whether  it  will  burn  when  it  has  passed  into  the 
system,  and  thus  become  mixed  with  the  blood? 
Yes;  it  will  burn  just  the  same  then,  as  at  any 
other  time. 

When  many  of  these  older  people  were  boys 
and  girls,  and  people  got  sick,  the  doctor  used 
quite  generally  to  cut  the  arm  a  little  at  the 
elbow,  and  take  a  pint  or  more  of  blood  from  the 
sick  person.  This  is  not  often  done  now,  but  if 
you  were  to  take  blood  in  this  way  from  the  arm 
of  one  who  drinks  a  great  deal  of  liquor,  and 
apply  a  match,  the  alcohol  in  the  blood  would 
burn  just  the  same  as  that  which  had  not  passed 
through  the  human  body,  but  had  been  mixed 


194  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

with  water.  Indeed,  the  body  may  become  so 
saturated  with  alcohol  that  the  fumes  of  it  in  the 
breath  may  be  lighted  with  a  match,  and  the  per- 
son, unless  help  were  at  hand,  would  be  burned 
to  death. 

Here  are  some  flat,  shallow  bottles,  such  as 
you  have  doubtless  noticed  in  the  windows  of 
liquor  stores  and  saloons,  filled  with  liquor,  and 
which  sell  at  lo  and  15  cents  a  bottle.  The  label 
on  this  bottle  says,  "  pure  rye  whiskey,"  and  on 
this  other,  "  pure  brandy."  Besides  the  alcohol 
which  we  find  in  each  of  these  bottles,  there  are 
added  several  deadly  drugs.  Men  generally  be- 
gin with  that  which  is  more  pure  and  is  sold  for 
medicine.  And  then  when  the  appetite  has 
grown  strong  and  the  will  has  grown  weak,  as  is 
always  the  case,  then  these  men  take  to  drinking 
this  common  poisonous  stuff,  and  later  when 
their  mouths  and  throats  become  less  sensitive 
they  drink  even  more  poisonous  stuff,  first,  be- 
cause it  is  cheaper,  and  again,  because  it  bites 
and  burns,  and  stings  and  scratches  more  furi- 
ously as  it  goes  down.  And  when  this  no  longer 
answers  the  purpose,  and  they  have  become 
poorer  still,  then  they  even  drink  pure  alcohol. 

I  want  to  say  to  you  boys  and  girls  that  the 
drinking  of  liquor  and  drunkenness  are  the 
causes  of  more  unhappiness   and  wretchedness 


CHARACTER  AND  EFFECTS  OF  ALCOHOL.   1 95 

and  misery  than  the  combined  results  of  all  the 
other  evils  and  wickedness  in  the  world.  If  you 
want  to  be  happy  in  this  world  and  in  the  world 
to  come,  you  must  never  drink  liquor  of  any 
kind.  If  you  wish  to  be  saved  from  a  drunk- 
ard's grave,  never  do  as  all  drunkards  have  done, 
begin  by  drinking  cider,  and  beer  and  wine. 
Avoid  these,  and  you  will  be  safe.  Remember 
that  the  Bible  says  :  "  Wine  is  a  mocker,  strong 
drink  is  raging:  and  whosoever  i^  deceived 
thereby  is  not  wise."     (Pro v.  20:1.) 


THE  MAGNET. 


JESUS   THE    GREAT   DRAWING    POWER. 

I  am  sure  that  there  is  not  a  boy  or  girl  here 
this  morning,  who  has  not  at  some  time  felt  a 
desire  to  be  good  and  do  right.  When  you  have 
felt  this  way,  it  has  been  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  has  come  to  you  and  has  put  these 
good  thoughts  and  good  desires  into  your  heart. 

There  is  not  an  individual  living  who  has  not 
at  some  time  felt  this  same  drawing  and  desire 
to  do  right  and  to  be  good.  The  results,  how- 
ever, have  been  very  different  with  different 
people. 

I  shall  seek  to  illustrate  this  fact  to  you  this 
morning,  and  have  brought  this  magnet  in  order 
to  represent  the  different  kinds  or  classes  of  per- 
sons. I  have  brought  these  different  sizes  of 
tacks  and  nails,  small  and  large,  and  here  are 
some  old,  rusted,  crooked  nails.  Let  these  sev- 
eral kinds  represent  the  different  kinds  of  people. 


Objects  used :     A  magnet,  small  tacks,  nails  small  and  large, 
some  old,  rusted,  crooked  nails  and  a  pocket  knife. 

196 


JESUS  THE  GREAT  MAGNET.        1 97 

When  I  take  this  magnet,  and  move  it  around 
among  these  small  tacks,  and  then  hold  it  up, 
you  will  see  that  very  many  of  these  tacks  cling 
to  the  magnet.  They  hold  on  by  some  unseen 
power.  Sometimes  the  tacks  are  even  not  able 
to  touch  the  magnet,  but  are  drawn  through  the 
influence  which  extends  through  other  tacks,  and 
so  large  clusters  hang  on  to  the  magnet.  If  I 
shake  the  magnet  you  will  see  that  some  fall  off. 
These  small  tacks  represent  the  youngest 
children.  In  the  early  years  of  our  lives  we  are 
more  easily  drawn  to  the  Lord  Jesus.  It  is  then 
more  easy  for  us  to  come  to  Christ  and  give  our- 
selves fully  to  Him.  It  is  much  easier  to  be 
Christians  when  we  are  young.  Yet  many  put 
it  off  till  they  are  older,  when  it  is  much  more 
difficult,  and  they  are  less  likely  to  be  successful 
in  living  a  Christian  life. 

Now,  if  I  remove  these  small  tacks,  and  place 
the  magnet  among  these  small  nails,  you  will  see 
that  several  of  the  small  nails  cling  to  the  mag- 
net, and  I  can  lift  them  up.  There  are  not  as 
many,  however,  as  there  were  of  the  tacks  cling- 
ing to  it.  In  like  manner,  as  boys  and  girls 
grow  older,  they  find  it  more  difficult  to  come  to 
Christ. 

Here  are  some  larger  nails.  When  I  place  the 
magnet  among  them,  but  very  few  are  attracted 


198  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

to  it.  And  when  I  attempt  to  lift  the  magnet, 
most  all  of  these  large  nails  fall  off.  Only  one, 
sometimes  two,  hold  on  successfully. 

Here  are  some  nails  that  are  larger  still.  Now, 
when  I  attempt  to  lift  one  of  them  with  this 
magnet,  you  see  that  I  can  only  lift  one  end  ot 
the  nail.  That  is  due  to  the  fact  that  while  the 
magnet  draws  these  nails,  the  earth  also  draws 
them.  That  is  the  reason  why  these  smaller 
nails,  when  they  fall  from  the  magnet,  fall  to  the 
earth;  because  the  earth  draws  them.  The  earth 
draws  with  so  much  greater  force  and  power  upon 
these  large  nails  that  I  cannot  raise  them  by  the 
magnet.  And  so  they  continue  to  hold  fast  to 
the  earth  rather  than  to  the  magnet. 

This  represents  the  people  who  have  grown 
old;  who  have  large  cares  and  responsibilities; 
who  have  become  worldly-minded;  who  are 
drawn  away  by  the  "  deceitfulness  of  riches  and 
the  lust  of  other  things,"  and  who,  although  they 
feel  a  desire  to  do  right,  yet  have  a  stronger  de- 
sire to  do  that  which  is  not  well-pleasing  in  the 
sight  of  God. 

Now,  here  are  some  old  crooked,  rusty  nails. 
Let  us  see  what  effect  the  presence  of  the  magnet 
will  have  upon  them.  Just  as  we  might  have 
expected.  These  rusty  nails  do  not  seem  to  feel 
the  power  or  the  influence  of  the  magnet's  pres- 


JESUS   THE    GREAT    MAGNET.  1 99 

ence.  If  I  place  the  magnet  up  against  the  nail, 
and  attempt  to  lift  it,  it  does  not  seem  to  be 
drawn  at  all.  It  simply  lies  still  in  its  place. 
These  old,  crooked,  rusty  nails  represent  those 
who  have  grown  very  old  and  very  wicked,  and 
who  have  become  greatly  hardened  in  sin.  Jesus 
Christ  and  His  love  seem  to  make  no  impres- 
sion any  longer  upon  them.  They  are  joined  to 
their  idols.  God's  Spirit  has  taken  His  departure, 
and  they  are  left  alone.  Let  me  warn  you,  both 
young  and  old,  that  if  you  feel  the  drawing  of 
God's  Spirit,  you  should  yield  to  Him,  so  as  not 
to  become  more  corroded  and  rusted,  and  coated 
over  by  every  sinful  influence,  so  that  at  last  the 
love  of  God  shall  fail  to  have  any  effect  upon 
you. 

If  now  we  take  these  different  classes  of  nails 
and  mix  them  together,  and  then  stir  the  magnet 
among  them,  you  will  see  how  the  smaller  nails, 
in  larger  numbers,  cling  to  the  magnet.  These 
bright  nails  are  also  affected  by  it.  Oftentimes 
the  influence  of  the  magnet  is  seen,  as  it  is  com- 
municated from  one  nail  to  the  other,  but  these 
rusty  nails,  not  only  do  not  themselves  yield  to 
the  influence  of  the  magnet,  but  they  also  fail  to 
communicate  that  magnetic  influence  to  any  of 
the  other  nails  around  them.  In  like  manner, 
wicked  people  seem  to  come  between  Christ  and 


20O  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

others  who  would  be  drawn  to  Him.  Let  me 
say  to  you  keep  out  of  bad  company.  Avoid 
wicked  companions — those  who  swear,  or  lie,  or 
do  anything  that  is  wrong,  for  their  influence  over 
you  will  be  bad,  and  they  will  prevent  the  good 
influences  of  holy  things  from  acting  upon  you. 

Suppose  now  that  I  take  my  knife  blade  and 
move  it  among  these  nails,  you  will  see  that  it 
does  not  attract  them  like  the  magnet  did.  It 
has  no  magnetic  power.  If  I  draw  the  knife 
blade  across  the  magnet  a  few  times,  it  receives 
this  magnetic  power  from  the  magnet.  Now, 
when  I  move  it  among  the  nails  you  will  see 
how  these  little  tacks  and  larger  nails  are  drawn 
toward  it. 

Just  so  it  is  with  each  of  us  as  individuals. 
Without  coming  in  contact  with  Christ  and  re- 
ceiving His  Spirit,  His  drawing  power,  we  will 
never  influence  others  to  do  that  which  is  right 
and  good  and  holy.  If  we  desire  to  have  an  in- 
fluence for  good  in  this  world  we  must,  first  of 
all,  come  to  Christ  ourselves,  and  receive  this 
drawing  power  from  Him.  You  have  doubtless 
seen  those  who  have  become  Christians,  and  after 
they  have  given  their  hearts  to  Christ  they  have 
immediately  begun  to  draw  others.  They  go  out 
and  invite  others  to  come  to  church,  they  invite 
others  to  go  with  them  to  the  prayer-meeting,  to 


JESUS  THE  GREAT  MAGNET.        20I 

come  with  them  to  the  Sunday-school,  and  so  in 
every  way  they  seek  to  influence  others  that  they 
may  draw  them  to  Christ. 

When  Jesus  was  upon  the  earth  vast  multi- 
tudes attended  Him.     Where  He  went  they  fol- 
lowed.    But  now  when  Jesus  is  no  longer  bodily 
present  upon  the  earth,  when  we  cannot  see  Him 
with  our  natural  eyes,  we  speak  of  walking  by  faith, 
and  you  may  be  curious  to  know  what  is  meant 
by  walking  by  faith.     I  think  that  I  can  illustrate 
it  in  this  way :  Here  is  a  sheet  of  writing  paper. 
Now  above  the  writing  paper   I  will  place  this 
magnet,  and  then  below  it  I  will  place  this  small 
bit  of  iron.     The  attracting  power  of  the  magnet 
holds  the  iron  up  against  the  paper.     Now,  when 
I  move  this  magnet  on  the  upper  side  of.  the 
sheet  from  place  to  place,  you  will  observe  that 
this  little  piece  of  iron  on  the  lower  side  of  the 
sheet  goes  in  the  same  direction.     It  follows  the 
magnet   very   closely.      The   paper    is   between 
them.     Now,  if  this  paper  was  enlarged  so  as  to 
be  as  long  and  as  broad  as  the  ceiling  of  this 
room,  of  course  you  would  not  be  able  to  see  the 
magnet.     It  would   be  hidden  from    your  view. 
But  as  you  would  move  the  magnet  from  place 
to  place,  the  little  iron  below  would  continue  to 
follow  it. 

So  Jesus  Christ  is  no  longer  visible ;  we  cannot 


202  OBJECT   SERMONS  TO    CHILDREN. 

see  Him  with  our  natural  eyes,  but  He  draws  the 
Christian  who  is  in  this  world,  and  so  the  Chris- 
tian follows  Him.  He  walks  in  the  footsteps  of 
the  Lord  Jesus.  And  it  is  on  that  account  that 
we  say  that  the  Christian  walks  by  faith,  and  not 
by  sight. 

Just  before  Jesus  was  crucified  He  said :  "  And, 
I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all 
men  unto  Me."  (John,  12;  32.)  So  He  draws 
you  and  He  draws  me.  And  so  also  by  His  love 
He  would  draw  every  individual  in  all  the  world 
to  Him.  Let  us  not  resist  the  drawings  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  but  come  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
and  love  Him  with  our  whole  heart. 


SCARLET  RAGS. 


SINS   OF   DEEPEST   DYE. 


My  dear  young  friends:  I  suppose  you  all 
have  heard  the  cry  of  a  certain  man  who  goes 
through  the  streets  calling  out  "  rags,  bones  and 
old  iron."  After  this  man  has  passed  through 
the  various  streets,  and  his  large  sack  is  well 
filled  with  what  he  has  gathered  from  street  to 
street,  he  takes  them  all  to  his  home,  and  even- 
tually, when  he  has  collected  a  large  pile  of  rags, 
they  are  made  up  into  great  bales  and  sent  off  to 
the  factories,  where  they  are  made  into  paper. 
But  before  the  factory  man  can  use  them,  the  rags 
of  different  colors  must  all  be  separated.  The 
white  rags  are  placed  on  one  pile,  and  the  col- 
ored rags  upon  another.  The  white  rags  are 
then  taken  and  manufactured  into  white  paper, 
oftentimes  into  writing  paper,  such  as  you  and  I 
use  when  we  write  letters  to  our  friends.  The 
colored  rags,  which  are  made  of  cotton,  are 
washed  and  bleached,  and  then,  by  the  aid  of 


Objects  used :  Pieces  of  scarlet  and  crimson  cotton  cloth,  and 
some  red  blotting  paper. 

203 


204  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

salts  and  in  various  other  ways,  they  take  out  the 
dark  colors,  until  at  last  the  rags  are  left  white, 
when  they  also  are  manufactured  into  paper. 

But  when  they  are  sorting  and  separating  them, 
they  oftentimes  come  upon  some  rags  which  are 
the  color  of  these  which  I  now  hold  in  my  hand. 
This  lighter  color  is  called  scarlet,  and  this  one 
of  darker  color  is  called  crimson.  Now,  the  man 
who  makes  the  paper  can  use  the  rags  of  various 
colors,  but  when  he  comes  to  these  rags  which 
are  colored  with  scarlet  and  crimson,  he  is  not 
able  to  use  them  at  all  In  manufacturing  white 
paper.  He  cannot  bleach  them,  for  these  colors 
cannot  be  removed  in  any  manner.  So,  after 
the  manufacturer  has  a  large  collection  of  these 
crimson  and  scarlet  rags,  they  are  all  ground  up, 
the  same  as  the  white  rags,  but  instead  of  mak- 
ing them  into  writing  paper,  they  are  manufac- 
tured into  this  red  blotting  paper.  And  this  is 
the  only  service  which  can  be  made  of  them. 

When  the  prophet  Isaiah  was  upon  earth,  hun- 
dreds of  years  ago,  and  when  the  people  of  Is- 
rael were  very  wicked  and  God  was  greatly  dis- 
pleased with  them,  the  prophet  called  upon  them 
to  repent  of  their  sins  and  turn  to  God,  and  in 
order  that  they  might  not  be  too  much  discour- 
aged because  of  their  sins  and  guilt,  the  prophet 
said  to  them,  "  Though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet, 


SINS   OF  DEEPEST   DYE.  20$ 

they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow ;  though  they  be 
red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool."  (Isaiah 
I  :  1 8.)  The  prophet  sought  to  show  them  that 
though  their  sins  were  so  grievous  that  no  hope 
could  be  expected  from  any  human  power,  yet  if 
they  would  turn  to  God  in  true  repentance  He 
would  give  them  pardon  and  salvation. 

There  is  not  a  boy  or  girl  here  this  morning 
who  has  not  often  disobeyed  God.  Oftentimes 
we  do  not  realize  what  great  sinners  we  are  in 
the  sight  of  God,  but  at  other  times  the  Holy 
Spirit  reveals  to  us  our  sins,  and  when  we  see 
our  sins  as  they  really  are,  we  are  apt  to  feel  that 
God  might  not  be  willing  to  forgive  such  great 
sinners,  and  then  it  is  that  this  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture comes  to  us  and  gives  us  great  comfort, 
by  the  assurance  that  **  though  our  sins  be  as 
scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow;  though 
they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool." 

One  time  John,  one  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus, 
when  he  had  grown  old  and  had  been  banished 
by  a  wicked  ruler  to  the.  island  of  Patmos,  when 
God  would  comfort  Him,  He  gave  him  a  view 
of  heaven,  and  when  he  looked  into  heaven  he 
saw  many  wonderful  and  very  beautiful  things. 
Among  the  other  things,  he  saw  a  great  many 
people  who  had  on  white  robes,  and  he  asked 
the  angel  who  these  were,  and  the  angel  replied 


206  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

and  said,  <' These  are  they  who  have  washed 
their  robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb."  (Rev.  7:  14.)  Soyouandlmay 
come  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  He  will  place 
upon  us  the  robes  of  His  own  righteousness,  take 
away  our  sins  and  our  guilt,  and  make  us  pure, 
and  holy  and  right,  and  then  when  you  and  I  die 
we  also  may  enter  into  heaven  above,  and  be  one 
of  that  throng  who  have  washed  their  robes  and 
made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  I 
pray  that  you  all  may  desire  to  be  clothed  with 
the  righteousness  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Give 
your  heart  to  Him,  and  give  to  Him  your  whole 
lives  in  humble  service. 

Hymn:  «  Wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow." 


ROPES. 

HABITS   AND    HOW   THEY    BECOME   STRONG. 

My  dear  BOYS  AND  GIRLS:  I  have  brought 
this  morning  a  piece  of  rope,  and  also  some  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  string.  If  I  take  this  rope  and 
try  to  break  it,  I  find  that  it  is  impossible.  I  do 
not  believe  that  any  five  or  six  men  in  this  audi- 
ence could  pull  with  sufficient  strength  to  break 
this  rope.  I  am  sure  that  no  twenty  boys  in  this 
room  could  pull  hard  enough  to  break  it. 

Here  is  a  very  strong  string.  Perhaps  a 
couple  of  boys,  possibly  four  boys,  might  be 
able  to  break  it.  But  here  is  a  thinner  string. 
Possibly  I  may  be  able  to  break  this.  Yes,  I 
can,  but  with  great  difficulty.  It  takes  all  the 
strength  I  have  to  break  it. 

Now,  here  is  some  that  is  thinner  still.  It  is 
about  as  thick  as  heavy  thread.  I  can  break  it 
very  easily. 

But  now,  when  I  take  this  heavy  rope  and  cut 
off  a  piece,  if  I  unwind  these  different  strands,  I 

Objects  used :     A  piece  of  rope  and  several  pieces  of  string. 
207 


208  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

find  that  this  rope  is  made  by  twisting  smaller 
ropes  together.  If  I  untwist  this  smaller  rope, 
which  I  have  taken  out  of  the  larger  rope,  I  find 
that  it  is  also  made  of  smaller  ropes,  or  strings. 
If  I  take  these  smaller  strings,  and  untwist 
them,  I  find  that  they  are  made  of  still  smaller 
string ;  if  I  take  any  of  these  smaller  strings  out 
of  the  rope,  I  can  break  them  easily,  but  when  I 
twist  several  of  them  together,  I  cannot  break 
them. 

I  think  that  these  smaller  cords,  out  of  which 
this  rope  is  made,  will  very  fittingly  illustrate 
habits.  It  is  a  very  dangerous  thing  to  form  bad 
habits.  We  should  be  very  careful  to  form  good 
ones,  but  bad  ones  are  very  dangerous.  The 
boy  who  remains  away  from  Sunday-school  but 
once,  thinks  little  of  it.  The  boy  who  remains 
away  from  church,  or  stays  home  from  school,  or 
disobeys  his  parents,  or  spends  the  evenings  on 
the  streets,  instead  of  in  the  house  reading  good 
books,  or  breaks  the  Sabbath,  or  does  any  one  of 
many  things,  may  think  very  Httle  of  these 
things,  but  do  you  know  that  when  we  go  on  re- 
peating the  same  thing  over  and  over  again,  the 
habit  grows  stronger  and  stronger  until  at  last 
we  are  not  able  to  break  loose  from  that  habit. 
There  are  men  here  to-day  who  think  that  they 
can  stop  smoking,  and  yet  they  began  with  only 


HOW   HABITS  BECOME  STRONG.  209 

an  occasional  cigarette  or  a  cigar,  until  the  habit 
has  grown  upon  them,  and  now  possibly  they 
think  they  are  able  to  stop,  but  when  they 
undertake  to  break  off  smoking,  they  find  that  it 
is  a  very  difficult  task,  and  very  few  who  under- 
take it  succeed  permanently.  The  old  habit  is 
likely  to  overcome  them  again  and  again. 

So  it  is  with  swearing,  and  with  telling  false- 
hoods, and  with  being  dishonest,  and  with  drink- 
ing liquor,  and  everything  that  we  do.  These 
habits  at  last  become  very  strong,  until  we  are 
not  able  to  break  loose  from  them. 

Now,  if  you  take  one  of  these  strong  habits 
from  which  a  man  is  not  able  to  break  loose,  and 
untwist  it,  you  will  find  that  it  is  made  up  of  a 
repetition  of  small  habits.  It  is  made  strong  by 
doing  the  same  thing  over  and  over  again.  It  is 
just  the  same  as  when  I  take  this  spool  of  thread 
and  rap  it  around  the  feet  of  a  boy.  I  can 
wrap  it  around  and  around,  and  while  it  would 
be  easy  for  him  to  break  the  thread  if  it  was 
wrapped  once  or  twice,  or  three  or  four  times 
around  his  feet,  yet  after  I  have  succeeded  in 
placing  it  ten  or  twelve  or  fifteen  times  around 
his  feet,  he  is  not  able  to  walk  at  all. 

I  could  tie  his  hands,  by  wrapping  this  small 
thread  around  and  around,  just  a  few  times.  At 
first  it  could  be  broken,  but  after  a  little  it  be- 


2IO  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN., 

comes  so  strong  that  he  is  not  able  to  break  it  at 
all.  So  it  is  with  habits,  when  we  do  the  same 
things  day  after  day,  the  habit  becomes  stronger 
and  stronger  day  by  day,  and  year  by  year,  until 
at  last  Satan  has  the  poor  victim  bound  hand 
and  foot,  and  he  is  absolutely  helpless.  No  one  is 
able  to  come  and  snap  the  cords,  and  set  this 
poor  helpless  prisoner  free,  until  God  in  His 
grace  comes  and  liberates  him  from  the  evil  hab- 
its with  which  he  has  bound  himself,  or  with 
which  he  has  permitted  Satan  to  bind  him. 

It  is  very  important  that  in  the  very  beginning 
of  life,  we  should  form  the  habit  of  doing  those 
things  which  are  right.  The  doing  of  the  right 
may  at  first  afford  us  but  very  little  pleasure,  yet 
we  are  to  continue  to  do  right,  and  after  a  while 
it  will  become  pleasant  for  us  to  do  right. 

At  first  it  may  not  be  very  pleasant  for  a  boy 
to  go  to  school.  He  prefers  not  to  exert  himself; 
not  to  put  forth  any  mental  effort.  But  after  he 
becomes  accustomed  to  going  to  school,  and  to 
put  forth  mental  effort,  it  becomes  more  and 
more  natural  to  him,  and  finally  he  comes  to  love 
study,  and  after  he  has  completed  his  studies  in 
the  primary  school,  he  goes  to  the  intermediate, 
and  to  the  grammar  school,  and  possibly  to  col- 
lege, and  continues  to  be  a  student  all  his  life. 
So  it  is  with  going  to  church  ;  those  who  begin 


HOW    HABITS   BECOME   STRONG.  2 1  I 

when  they  are  young,  and  go  regularly,  Sunday 
after  Sunday,  become  regular  church  attendants 
all  their  lives,  and  grow  to  be  good  men  and 
good  women. 

Habits  are  formed  very  much  like  the  channel 
of  a  river.  Gradually,  year  after  year,  the  river 
wears  its  course  deeper  and  deeper,  until  finally 
through  the  soft  soil  and  the  hard  rock,  through 
the  pleasant  meadow  and  the  beautiful  wood- 
lands, it  has  worn  out  for  itself  a  very  deep  chan- 
nel in  which  it  continues  to  flow,  sometimes  hun- 
dreds of  miles,  to  the  ocean. 

So  the  mind,  by  repeated  action,  marks  out  its 
course,  and  whether  the  mental  effort  or  manual 
work  be  pleasant  or  difficult,  we  become  so  ac- 
customed to  it,  that  we  go  on  day  by  day,  and 
year  by  year,  through  all  our  lives,  comfortably 
doing  the  same  thing. 

The  Bible  gives  very  wise  instruction  to 
parents  when  it  says,  "  Train  up  a  child  in  the 
way  he  should  go :  and  when  he  is  old,  he  will 
not  depart  from  it."  ( Prov.  22:6.)  It  has  also 
been  wisely  said,  "  Sow  an  act  and  you  reap  a 
habit ;  sow  a  habit  and  you  reap  a  character  ;  sow 
a  character  and  you  reap  a  destiny." 


WATCH  AND  CASE. 

THE    SOUL     AND     THE     BODY. 

My  little  men  and  women  :  These  older 
people  who  are  sitting  back  of  you  will,  of 
course,  have  to  keep  very  quiet,  and  be  careful 
not  to  whisper  while  I  preach  an  Object  Sermon 
to  you,  and  then  afterward  you  will  not  disturb 
them,  but  will  be  very  attentive  and  listen  while 
I  preach  to  the  older  folks. 

Now,  boys  and  girls,  what  is  this  that  I  hold 
in  my  hand?  (Many  voices,  "A  watch.")  I 
expected  that  you  would  say  it  was  a  watch. 
Every  boy  knows  a  watch  when  he  sees  it,  and 
every  boy  desires  to  have  a  watch  of  his  own — 
one  which  he  can  carry  in  his  pocket,  and  one 
which  will  tell  him  the  time  of  day  whenever  he 
looks  at  it. 

But  you  cannot  be  sure,  even  from  appear- 
ances, that  this  is  absolutely  a  watch.  It  might 
be  only  a  watch  case.     In  order  to  tell  whether 


Objects  used :  A  watch  case,  from  which  the  works  can  be 
easily  removed.  Any  jeweler  will  be  able  to  loan  you  such  an 
old  case  and  superannuated  works  which  cannot  be  injured. 


212 


SOUL  AND  BODY.  21  3 

it  is  a  watch,  let  us  open  it.  After  all,  it  is  not 
a  watch.  It  is  only  a  watch-case.  You  would 
not  wish  to  spend  your  money  when  you  expect 
to  get  a  watch,  and  on  reaching  horne  find  that 
you  have  been  deceived,  and  that  you  had  noth- 
ing but  a  watch-case  ? 

Now,  boys  and  girls,  what  is  this  ?  (holding 
up  the  works  of  the  watch)  "A  Watch."  This 
time  you  are  right,  this  is  the  watch.  It  is  a 
watch  without  a  case  around  it.  Now  we  will 
put  the  works  into  the  case,  and  then  we  will 
have  a  complete  watch.  The  works  and  the 
case  together  constitute  a  watch. 

You  have  all,  I  suppose,  been  at  a  funeral,  and 
you  have  seen  the  body  of  the  dead  man  or 
woman  or  child  lying  in  the  coffin.  Unless 
somebody  has  told  you  differently,  you  may 
possibly  have  thought  the  person  whom  you  had 
known  was  lying  there  in  the  coffin.  But  that 
was  not  the  fact.  Every  man,  woman  and  child 
consists  of  a  soul  and  a  body,  and  when  a  person 
dies  the  soul  returns  to  God,  who  gave  it.  God 
made  our  body  out  of  the  dust  of  the  ground, 
and  when  the  spirit  leaves  the  body,  it  is  a  dead 
body,  and  it  begins  to  decay,  and  soon  becomes 
offensive,  and  so  we  bury  the  body  out  of  our 
sight,  putting  it  again  in  the  ground. 

It  is  not  so,  however,  with  the  soul.     That  is 


214  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

a  spirit.  When  God  had  made  Adam  out  of  the 
dust  of  the  ground,  He  breathed  into  his  nostrils 
the  breath  of  Hfe,  and  man  became  a  Hving  soul. 
Now,  this  soul  never  dies.  God  has  created  it 
to  live  forever  and  ever,  throughout  all  eternity. 
Those  who  are  good  and  trust  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  will  be  received  at  death  to  dwell  forever 
with  the  Lord.  And  those  who  are  wicked  and 
do  not  repent  of  their  sins,  God  will  banish  for- 
ever from  His  presence ;  for  sin  is  hateful  in  the 
sight  of  God,  and  He  cannot  look  upon  it  with 
any  degree  of  allowance. 

The  moment  you  look  upon  a  body,  without 
being  able  to  tell  how,  you  can  nevertheless 
quickly  distinguish  between  one  who  is  asleep 
and  one  who  is  really  dead.  Even  animals  can 
tell  a  dead  body.  When  a  dead  horse  lies  along 
the  road,  it  is  very  difficult  to  drive  a  live  horse 
near  to  the  dead  horse.  The  living  horse  knows 
at  once  that  the  other  is  dead,  although  we  do 
not  know  how  he  knows  it. 

Now,  I  want  to  show  you  that  death  does  not 
affect  the  existence  of  the  soul.  I  will  now  lift 
these  works  out  of  the  watch  case. 

I  now  hold  the  case  in  my  left  hand,  and  the 
works  in  my  right  hand.  As  these  works  consti- 
tute the  real  watch,  so  the  soul  constitutes  the 
real  person,  and  as  these  wheels  and  hands  con- 


SOUL  AND  BODY.  21$ 

tinue  to  move,  and  to  keep  time  regularly,  even 
after  they  have  been  removed  from  the  case,  so 
the  soul,  when  God  removes  it  from  the  body, 
continues  to  exist  and  to  be  possessed  of  all  that 
makes  the  reasoning,  thinking,  immortal  and  in- 
destructible being  of  man. 

I  might  take  this  case,  which  I  hold  in  my 
left  hand,  and  bury  it  in  the  ground,  but  the 
works  would  not  be  affected  by  this  fact,  but 
would  continue  to  run  on  just  the  same.  Sup- 
pose I  were  to  leave  this  case  buried  in  the 
ground  until  it  had  all  rusted  away.  Then  sup- 
pose that,  as  a  chemist,  I  could  gather  up  all 
these  particles  again  and  make  them  anew  into  a 
watch  case,  and  then  put  the  works  back  into  the 
case  which  had  been  restored  or  made  anew, 
that  would  represent  the  resurrection  of  the  body 
and  the  re-uniting  of  the  soul  with  the  body, 
which  will  take  place  at  the  resurrection  day. 

Some  years  ago  there  was  a  great  chemist, 
whose  name  was  Faraday.  It  happened  one 
time  in  his  laboratory  that  one  of  the  students,  by 
accident,  knocked  from  the  table  a  silver  cup, 
which  fell  into  a  vessel  of  acid.  The  acid  im- 
mediately destroyed  or  dissolved  it,  and  the  silver 
all  disappeared,  the  same  as  sugar  dissolves  or 
melts  in  a  tumbler  of  water.  When  Professor 
Faraday  came  in,  and  was  told  what  had  hap- 


2l6  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

pened,  he  took  some  chemicals  and  poured  them 
into  the  acid  in  which  the  silver  had  disappeared. 
As  soon  as  these  chemicals  came  together,  the 
acid  began  to  release  the  silver,  and  particle  by 
particle  the  silver  settled  at  the  bottom  of  the 
vessel.  The  acid  was  poured  off  and  the  silver 
was  all  carefully  gathered  up  and  sent  to  a  silver- 
smith, who  melted  the  silver  and  made  it  anew 
into  a  silver  cup  of  the  same  form,  design  and 
beauty.  It  was  the  same  cup  made  anew.  Sy, 
my  young  friends,  our  bodies  may  dissolve  in  the 
grave  and  entirely  disappear,  but  God  is  able  to 
raise  them  up  again.  He  tells  us  in  the  Bible  that 
these  bodies  which  are  buried  in  corruption  shall 
be  raised  in  incorruption,  that  these  mortal  bodies 
shall  be  raised  and  shall  put  on  immortality. 

I  trust  that  I  have  illustrated  to  you  how  the 
soul  and  the  body  are  separated  when  we  die, 
and  God's  Word  assures  us  that  they  shall  be  re- 
united again  in  the  morning  of  the  resurrection, 
for  all  these  dead  bodies  "  shall  hear  the  voice  of 
the  Son  of  God  and  shall  come  forth."  It  matters 
not  whether  they  were  buried  in  the  ground,  or 
in  the  water,  they  shall  arise  from  every  sea  and 
from  every  cemetery,  and  every  grave  in  all  the 
world,  and  shall  live  anew  and  forever,  either  in 
happiness  with  God  in  heaven,  or  in  misery  with 
Satan  in  eternal  punishment. 


KEYS. 

HOW   TO   UNLOCK   THE    HUMAN    HEART. 

My  dear  boys  and  girls:  I  have  here  this 
morning  quite  a  variety  of  locks.  Here  are  also 
quite  a  variety  of  keys.  You  will  notice  that 
there  are  several  more  keys  than  there  are  locks. 
Now,  I  suppose  that  we  would  have  no  very  great 
difficulty  in  selecting  the  keys  that  would  be  most 
likely  to  turn  backward  and  forward  the  bolts  in 
these  different  locks.  We  would  naturally  ex- 
pect that  these  larger  keys  would  fit  these  larger 
locks  and  the  smaller  keys  would  be  adapted  to 
lock  and  unlock  the  smaller  ones. 

Here  is  this  large  lock ;  I  suppose  it  very  possi- 
ble that  this  large  key  may  be  suited  to  lock  and 
unlock  it.  Yes,  it  just  fits.  You  see  how  it 
turns  the  bolt  in  and  out  as  I  turn  the  key. 

Now,  here  is  another  lock  ;  let  us  see  if  we  can 
find  a  key  that  will  fit  it.  This  key  seems  about 
the  size,  but  after  passing  it  into  the  lock  it  seems 
to  strike  something  that  prevents  it  from  turning, 


Objects  used :     A  few  locks  and  keys  of  various  kinds. 
217 


2l8  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

and  consequently  is  of  no  service.  Let  us  try 
another.  That  seems  to  work  much  better,  and 
turns  the  bolt  backward  and  forward. 

Here  is  still  another  lock ;  let  us  try  this  key 
with  this  lock.  That  seems  to  work  very  well. 
Possibly  we  might  be  able  to  lock  and  unlock 
this  other  also.  Let  us  try  it.  Yes,  this  key  fits 
both  these  locks.  This  key  is  what  the  lock- 
smith calls  a  skeleton  key.  It  is  so  made  as  to 
avoid  the  obstacles  which  are  placed  in  the  dif- 
ferent locks  to  prevent  them  from  being  opened 
by  all  varieties  of  keys.  Here  is  a  still  smaller 
lock.  This  lock  has  a  very  peculiar  keyhole,  and 
I  know  at  once  that  there  is  no  need  of  trying  to 
unlock  it  with  most  of  the  keys  which  I  have 
spread  out  here.  I  recognize  it  at  once  as  what 
is  called  a  Yale  lock.  The  key  is  thin,  is  bent  in 
various  ways,  and  along  the  edge  has  several 
notches.  Let  us  try  a  couple  of  these  keys. 
This  one  seems  to  fit  very  well  to  the  grooves. 
It  passes  into  the  lock,  but  I  cannot  turn  the  bolt. 
Let  us  try  another.  Yes,  this  seems  to  be  the 
one  that  was  made  by  the  locksmith  to  fasten 
and  unfasten  this  lock. 

A  key  then  is  simply  something  which  unlocks 
the  door  or  the  gate,  so  you  may  open  it  and 
pass  inside.  Now,  there  are  a  great  many  kinds 
of  keys.     Sometimes  a  book  is  called  a  key  to 


HOW   GOD   UNLOCKS   THE   HEART.  219 

business.  Perhaps  another  book  is  called  a  key 
to  the  study  of  medicine;  another  the  key  to  the 
study  of  law.  And  so  there  may  be  a  great 
many  kinds  of  books  which  are  called  keys. 
When  properly  used  or  studied  they  open  the 
way  for  a  clear  understanding  of  how  to  transact 
business,  how  to  study  medicine  and  how  to 
study  law.  And  so  there  are  various  books  that 
are  keys  to  the  understanding  of  very,  very  many 
subjects.  When  you  indicate  to  me  the  kind  of 
difficulty  that  you  have  to  overcome,  it  would  be 
reasonably  easy  to  indicate  the  kind  of  book  you 
need  in  order  successfully  to  meet  that  difficulty. 
When  I  find  a  book  that  teaches  a  boy  good 
business  habits  and  helps  him  to  become  a  good 
business  man,  I  know  that  book  was  written 
with  that  object  in  view.  When  I  find  a  book 
that  teaches  one  how  to  understand  the  human 
system,  the  nature  of  disease  and  the  character 
of  the  remedies  which  are  to  be  used  when  peo- 
ple are  sick,  I  know  that  book  was  written  with  a 
view  to  help  people  to  understand  the  nature  of 
disease  and  the  character  of  medicine.  Just  so 
it  is  with  every  other  book.  Each  is  like  the 
lock  and  the  key,  for  the  locks  have  inside  a  pe- 
culiar sort  of  winding  way,  and  when  I  find  a  key 
that  exactly  fits  into  this  winding  passage  I  know 
immediately  that  the  locksmith  designed  that  the 


220  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO    CHILDREN. 

key  should  fit  into  that  particular  lock  and  turn 
back  the  bolt. 

Now,  God  wants  to  get  into  the  human  heart, 
and  I  find  that  God  has  a  key  with  which  to  un- 
lock It.  I  do  not  think  you  would  be  long  in 
guessing  what  book  God  has  made  the  key  with 
which  to  unlock  the  human  heart.  I  think  that 
every  boy  and  girl  would  at  once  say  that  it  is 
the  Bible.  Yes;  it  is  the  Bible.  It  fits  exactly 
into  the  all  the  wards  and  chambers,  and  winding 
passages  which  characterize  each  and  every  need 
of  the  human  heart.  The  moment  I  bring  this 
wonderful  key  of  divine  truth  to  the  human 
heart  I  find  that  the  lock  and  key  were  both 
made  by  the  same  infinite  Creator.  Some  locks 
are  very  complicated  and  intricate,  and  the  keys 
are  also  very  peculiar.  They  are  made  espe- 
cially for  that  particular  lock,  and  no  other  key 
In  all  the  world  will  unlock  it.  The  moment  I 
get  that  particular  key  and  turn  It  around  In  the 
lock  I  know  at  once  that  both  the  lock  and  the 
key  were  made  by  the  same  Individual,  and 
that  the  lock  was  made  to  be  opened  by  no  other 
key.  So  God  has  created  the  human  heart  and 
made  it  very  difficult  to  be  opened,  and  there  is 
no  key  In  all  the  world  that  can  open  It  except 
the  Bible. 

As  a  robber  or  a  burglar  may  try  to  get  Into  a 


HOW  GOD  UNLOCKS  THE  HEART.     221 

house  by  the  use  of  a  skeleton  key,  or  by  pick- 
ing the  lock,  so  men  have  often  tried  to  gain 
admission  into  the  human  heart  by  the  use  of 
various  substitutes  for  the  genuine  and  the  real 
key.  They  have  tried  amusement,  and  wealth, 
and  sinful  pleasure,  and  very,  very  many  things; 
but  they  never  succeed  in  getting  into  the  inner 
sacredness  of  the  human  heart.  Unless  the  heart 
is  opened  by  God's  Word,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
admitted  so  that  God  can  take  possession,  there 
is  always  a  sense  of  loneliness,  a  sense  of  dissat- 
isfaction, a  desire  for  something  that  the  indi- 
vidual does  not  possess,  he  is  at  unrest,  he  is 
restless  and  dissatisfied,  like  a  boy  or  girl  who  is 
away  from  home,  and  has  a  homesick  longing  to 
return  to  that  home. 

You  never  will  be  able  to  understand  the 
hidden  mystery  of  your  own  spiritual  life  and 
spiritual  being  until  you  use  the  Word  of  God  to 
help  you  to  solve  the  mystery.  The  Word  of 
God  is  not  only  designed  to  unlock  the  human 
heart,  so  that  God  and  the  Holy  Spirit  may  gain 
admission,  but  this  key  is  also  designed  to  lock 
the  door  against  Satan  and  sin  and  keep  them 
out  of  our  hearts.  Unless  you  daily  use  your 
Bibles  to  lock  your  heart  against  evil  thoughts, 
and  wicked  purposes,  and  sinful  desires  ;  you  will 
find  that  they  will  steal  into  your  heart,  and  like 


222  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

the  evil  spirit  that  had  been  driven  out  and  after- 
ward returned  and  brought  seven  other  spirits 
more  wicked  than  himself,  so  sin  and  Satan  will 
again  take  possession  of  your  heart  and  lock  it 
against  God  and  all  that  is  good. 


HUSKS. 

THE   DISAPPOINTED   PLEASURE-SEEKER. 

I  hold  in  my  hand  what  I  suppose  most  of 
you  have  seen,  and  perhaps  many  of  you  have 
eaten.  It  is  what  boys  oftentimes  call  "Johnny 
bread."  It  looks  very  much  like  the  long  pods 
which  grow  on  the  honey  locust  trees.  It  is 
sometimes  called  "Johnny  bread,"  because  some 
some  people  mistakingly  think  that  this  was  the 
kind  of  locust  that  John  the  Baptist  ate  when  he 
came  in  the  Wilderness,  preaching  that  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  was  at  hand  and  that  men  should 
repent.  We  are  told  in  the  Scriptures  that  he 
ate  locusts  and  wild  honey.  The  locusts  which 
he  ate  were  very  much  like  our  grasshoppers, 
such  as  are  still  eaten  by  very  poor  people  in 
the  East. 

In  the  15th  chapter  of  the  gospel  by  St.  Luke, 
we  have  a  very  beautiful  parable,  called  the  para- 
ble of  the  prodigal  son.     In  connection  with  this 


Object  used:  The  sweet  husks  which  look  like  the  large  pods 
of  the  sweet  locust  trees  in  our  country.  These  husks  can  be 
had  in  candy  stores  and  at  the  peanut  stands  in  large  cities. 

223 


224  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO   CHILDREN. 

husk  which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  I  want  to  tell  you 
something  about  this  prodigal  son. 

In  this  parable  Jesus  tells  of  a  very  kind  father 
who  had  two  sons,  but  the  younger  son  was  dis- 
satisfied and  discontented.  He  was  a  boy  very 
much  like  many  who  live  in  this  country  and  at 
this  age.  He  was  a  boy  who  wanted  to  have  his 
own  way.  He  thought  that  his  father  was  an  "  old 
fogy."  The  son  wanted  gay  company  and  gay 
clothing.  He  wanted  to  travel  and  see  some- 
thing of  the  world;  so  he  asked  his  father  to  give 
him  the  money  which  would  come  to  him  at  his 
father's  death,  in  order  that  he  might  go  immedi- 
ately and  have  his  own  way,  and  have  a  good 
time,  as  he  supposed. 

His  father  was  very  sad,  for  he  had  tried  to 
bring  up  his  boy  in  the  right  way.  But  when  he 
could  not  prevail  upon  him,  and  his  son  would 
not  listen  to  him  any  longer,  but  insisted  upon 
having  the  money  and  going  away  from  home, 
the  father  granted  his  request. 

When  the  money  had  been  counted  out,  the 
son  gathered  it  all  up,  bade  his  father  and  brother 
and  all  friends  good-bye,  telling  them  what  a 
happy  time  he  was  going  to  have,  and  started  out 
for  a  far  country. 

This  same  desire  to  see  something  of  the  world 
has  induced  many  boys  to  run  away  from  home. 


THE  PLEASURE  SEEKER.  225 

Many  years  ago,  when  there  were  numerous 
ships  that  went  out  on  long  voyages  to  catch 
whales,  oftentimes  boys  who  had  run  away  from 
home  used  to  go  with  these  ships.  Now,  how- 
ever, restless  and  discontented  boys,  who  have 
read  worthless  and  deceptive  books,  sometimes 
go  to  live  a  wild  life  on  the  plains  in  the  West. 
Sometimes  boys  even  become  tramps.  Scores 
and  sometimes  hundreds  of  them  can  be  met  at 
any  time  by  going  to  the  Breakfast  Association, 
in  Philadelphia,  or  some  of  the  Rescue  Homes, 
in  New  York,  where  poor,  wandering  boys  and 
tramps  are  given  a  free  meal  on  Sunday  morning 
or  Sunday  evening.  Prodigals  now,  as  in  the  time 
when  Christ  lived,  have  a  very  hard  time  of  it. 
They  start  out  with  high  hopes,  sometimes  with 
money  in  their  pockets,  with  fine  clothing  and 
bright  anticipations,  expecting  to  have  a  good 
time  in  the  far  country  which  they  are  seeking. 
But  their  experience  is  always  the  same. 

When  this  prodigal  came  to  the  far  country, 
for  a  few  weeks,  or  possibly  a  few  months,  he 
had  pJlenty  of  money.  He  thought  his  money 
would  always  last.  Bad  men  and  women  gath- 
ered around  him,  for  they  all  wanted  to  enjoy 
what  his  money  would  secure  for  them.  But  it 
didn't  take  long ;  his  money  was  soon  spent,  and 
when  his  money  was  gone  his  pretended  friends 


226  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

were  gone  also.  He  soon  found  himself  penni- 
less, friendless  and  hungered.  He  had  to  go  out 
and  seek  for  work.  Perhaps  he  had  been  too 
much  indulged  at  home.  He  had  never  learned 
a  trade,  and  possibly  had  never  learned  to  do 
work  of  any  kind,  and  so  there  was  nothing  for 
him  to  do  but  accept  the  humblest  and  meanest 
kind  of  labor.  He  was  a  Jew,  and  for  a  Jew  to 
tend  swine  or  hog5  was  one  of  the  meanest  things 
in  all  the  world.  And  yet  he  was  willing  because 
of  his  poverty  and  his  want,  to  do  even  this  most 
degrading  service.  This  boy  who  wanted  to  be 
his  own  master  now  became  the  most  menial  of 
slaves,  even  to  the  tending  of  swine.  He  wanted 
gay  company,  but  he  had  only  pigs  for  his  com- 
panions. He  wanted  wine  and  feasting,  but  now 
no  one  even  offered  him  husks  to  eat.  He  left 
his  home  to  seek  happiness,  but  he  found  only 
misery. 

These  husks  which  I  have  here,  which  some 
boys  call  "Johnny  bread,"  are  exactly  what 
this  wayward,  disappointed,  disheartened,  hun- 
gry boy  was  given  to  feed  to  the  swine  which  he 
was  hired  to  tend.  He  was  so  hungry  that  he 
would  have  been  glad  to  eat  these  husks  with  the 
pigs,  but  no  one  gave  him  any  to  eat. 

When  this  wayward  boy  was  thus  brought 
down  to  poverty  and  hunger  in  that  far-off  coun- 


THE  PLEASURE  SEEKER.  22/ 

try,  while  he  was  tending  the  swine,  he  began  to 
think.  If  he  had  only  stopped  to  think  before 
he  left  his  home,  he  would  never  have  started 
away.  He  would  surely  have  known  that  he  was 
better  off  at  home  than  anywhere  else.  But 
now  that  misery  and  want  had  come  to  him,  we 
are  told  that  "he  came  to  himself."  That  is, 
he  came  to  his  senses.  It  was  sentiment  which 
led  him  from  his  home.  It  was  sense  that  brought 
him  back.  The  trouble  with  boys  and  girls,  and 
with  older  people  too,  is  that  they  do  not  stop  to 
think.  They  follow  their  fancies  and  sentiments, 
and  they  are  led  astray  in  this  wag.  God  wants 
us  to  stop  and  think,  and  He  says,  "  Come,  let 
us  reason  together."  God  does  not  ask  any 
unreasonable  thing  of  us.  He  simply  wants  to 
treat  us  as  thoughtful  beings,  but  we  want  to  fol- 
low our  own  inclination  and  our  own  desire.  God 
treats  us  very  kindly.  He  gives  us  every  needy 
comfort  and  every  daily  blessing,  and  yet  often- 
times people  are  discontented  and  dissatisfied 
with  God ;  they  complain  and  think  they  have  a 
hard  time  of  it.  Instead  of  being  faithful  and  true 
to  God,  they  turn  away  from  him.  They  desire 
to  forsake  God  and  serve  Satan.  They  desire  to 
accept  what  Satan  says,  and  so  turn  away  from 
God  and  all  that  is  good.  But  we  have  the  same 
experience  over  and  over  again  that  this  young 


228  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

man  had.  He  went  out  with  fine  clothes  and 
plenty  of  money,  and  with  high  hopes  ;  but  he 
returned  home  in  rags,  without  a  penny  in  his 
pocket,  disappointed,  penitent  and  ashamed. 

But  I  must  not  forget  to  tell  you,  that  when 
he  had  journeyed  many  a  week,  toiling  wearily 
over  the  long  road  that  had  separated  him  from 
his  father's  house,  at  last  he  came  near  his  old 
home.  In  going  away  he  had  nearly  broken 
his  father's  heart.  With  sorrow  he  was  bringing 
his  aged  father  down  to  the  grave.  But  his 
father  still  loved  his  wayward  boy,  and  expected 
him  home.  As  he  sat  watching,  at  the  door 
looking  over  the  hills,  he  saw  the  returning  pro- 
digal when  he  was  yet  a  great  way  off.  This  lov- 
ing and  forgiving  father  had  compassion  upon 
him,  ran  and  fell  upon  his  neck  and  kissed  him, 
and  welcomed  him  back  home  again.  The  way- 
ward boy's  heart  was  all  broken  up  by  such  kind 
treatment.  He  said  to  his  father,  "Father  I  have 
sinned  against  heaven  and  in  thy  sight,  and  am 
no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son ;  make  me 
as  one  of  thy  hired  servants." 

But  the  father  called  his  servants  and  com- 
manded them  to  bring  the  best  robe  and  put  it 
upon  this  boy  who  had  given  him  so  much  sor- 
row ;  to  bring  the  ring  and  put  it  upon  his  finger ; 
and  then  to  kill  the  fatted  calf,  so  that  they  might 


THE  PLEASURE  SEEKER.         229 

make  a  great  feast,  in  order  that  all  might  be 
made  very  glad,  because  this  his  son,  who  was 
dead,  was  alive  again,  he  who  had  been  lost 
was  found. 

So  when  we  come  back  to  God  after  we  have 
sinned  against  riim,  and  are  repentent  and  sorry 
for  what  we  have  done,  in  love  and  great  tender- 
ness He  forgives  our  sins.  And  like  the  prodigal, 
in  the  time  of  his  sorest  misery,  found  in  his 
father's  heart  the  greatest  mercy,  so  you  and  I 
may  come  to  God  and  know  that  in  the  day  of 
our  distress  He  is  always  willing  to  love  us 
and  to  forgive  us  as  His  own  dear  children.  Let 
us  be  careful  not  to  sin  against  Him,  and  then 
we  shall  not  have  the  humiliation  and  the  sorrow 
of  comiiig  back,  like  this  poor  prodigal,  when  he 
returned  in  rags  and  poverty  to  his  father's  house. 


PEARLS. 

ONE    OF    GREAT    PRICE. 

My  young  friends  :  Suspended  from  this 
string,  I  have  a  large  pearl,  which  I  found  in  an 
oyster.  I  thought  it  might  be  valuable,  and  I 
took  it  to  a  jeweler,  but  he  soon  told  me  that  it 
was  not  worth  much,  because  it  was  not  perfect. 
It  is  unusually  large,  but  to  be  valuable  it  must 
be  perfectly  round  and  have  no  defects.  When 
Jesus  was  upon  the  earth  He  told  of  a  merchant 
who  went  in  search  of  a  valuable  pearl,  and  when 
he  had  found  it,  he  sold  all  that  he  had  and  he 
bought  that  pearl,  in  order  that  he  might  have 
the  largest  and  the  most  valuable  jewel  in  all  the 
world. 

Cleopatra,  Queen  of  Egypt,  had  a  pearl  that  was 
worth  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand 
dollars,  and  one  day  she  dissolved  this  costly 
pearl,  and  drank  it  in  a  glass  of  wine  to  the 
honor  of  Mark  Antony,  one  of  the  Roman  rulers. 
There  are  pearls  to-day  worth  two  and  three 
hundred   thousand   dollars,   and  possibly  more. 

Object  used  :  A  pearl  of  any  kind  or  size. 
230 


THE  PEARLS  OF  GREAT  PRICE.       23 1 

The  pearl  in  this  parable  is  the  symbol  of  sal- 
vation. Now,  salvation  costs  more,  and  is  worth 
more  than  ail  the  farms,  and  houses,  and  stores, 
and  wealth  of  all  this  nation,  and  all  the  nations 
of  all  the  globe,  and  all  the  created  universe 
about  us.  It  cost  the  life  of  the  Son  of  God,  and 
it  is  desirable,  therefore,  that  you  and  I  should 
obtain  it,  because  of  the  many  blessings  it  se- 
cures to  us,  both  in  this  world  and  in  the  world 
to  come. 

For  two  thousand  years  men  from  all  the 
largest  nations  of  the  earth  have  gone  to  the 
island  of  Ceylon,  seeking  pearls.  It  is  a  barren 
and  deserted  island,  but  during  the  months  of 
February,  March  and  April,  every  night  at  ten 
o'clock,  many  boats  sail  out  about  ten  miles,  to 
the  place  where  men,  with  large  leaden  weights 
at  their  feet,  dive  down  through  the  water  until 
they  come  to  the  banks  where  the  large  pearl 
oyster  has  his  home.  They  quickly  pick  up  sev- 
eral of  these  oysters  and  drop  them  into  a  basket 
of  net-work,  and  in  about  sixty  or  seventy 
seconds  are  again  drawn  up  by  their  companions 
into  the  boat. 

Men  and  women  could  not  have  pearls  if  it 
were  not  that  these  men  are  willing  to  risk  their 
lives  by  diving  way  down  under  the  water  to 
obtain   them.     No   one   could   secure  salvation 


232  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

had  not  Jesus  left  His  throne  in  heaven  and  come 
down  to  this  wicked  world  to  suffer  and  die,  that 
He  might  make  atonement  for  our  sins  upon  the 
cross,  so  that  you  and  I  might  not  perish  but 
have  everlasting  life — so  that  you  and  I  might 
have  salvation,  both  here  and  in  heaven. 

When  I  went  to  the  jeweler,  he  told  me  that 
these  rough  parts  on  this  pearl  which  I  have 
could  not  be  removed  and  the  rough  places 
poHshed.  Diamonds  have  to  be  cut  and  polished. 
Many  precious  and  costly  jewels  when  found 
look  only  like  rough  stones  in  the  field,  but  the 
pearl  is  perfect  when  found ;  nothing  can  be  done 
to  make  it  more  perfect  or  more  valuable.  Just 
so  is  the  salvation  of  Jesus  perfect;  no  human 
wisdom  can  improve  upon  it.  The  best  book 
that  any  man  ever  wrote  has  been  equaled  by 
what  some  other  man  has  thought  and  written. 
The  religion  of  the  heathen  can  be  greatly  im- 
proved, but  the  Bible  and  the  salvation  which  it 
reveals,  man  has  never  been  able  to  equal,  much 
less  to  improve  upon. 

To-day,  as  thousands  of  years  ago,  pearls  are 
worn  as  ornaments  to  the  body,  but  the  salvation 
which  Jesus  Christ  came  to  bring  is  an  ornament 
to  the  soul  that  possesses  it. 

The  pearl  is  valuable  and  desirable,  because  it 
cannot  easily  be  stolen   away  from  its  owner. 


THE  PEARLS  OF  GREAT  PRICE.       233 

When  Jesus  was  upon  the  earth  they  did  not 
have  banks,  with  large  iron  safes  where  people 
could  deposit  their  money  and  jewels  for  safe- 
keeping. There  were  many  robbers  then,  and 
people  buried  their  money  and  valuables.  Often 
the  places  where  these  were  concealed  were  dis- 
covered, and  then  all  that  they  had  was  stolen. 
A  pearl  is  small,  and  could  therefore  easily  be 
hidden  in  a  place  of  safety.  If  war  occurred,  or 
for  any  reason  a  man  and  his  family  had  to  flee 
from  their  home  or  their  country,  they  could  eas- 
ily carry  even  the  most  valuable  pearls.  The 
owner  could  hide  it  in  his  mouth,  or  even  swallow 
it  if  necessary.  If  a  man  had  much  gold,  it  was 
too  heavy  to  carry,  and  it  could  readily  be  dis- 
covered and  stolen.  But  a  pearl  was  not  so 
difficult  to  hide  and  keep. 

The  Bible  tells  us  that  salvation  is  something 
that  the  world  cannot  give,  and  which  the  world 
cannot  take  away.  Daniel  had  this  pearl  of 
great  price,  and  even  though  the  king  cast  him 
into  the  den  of  lions,  he  could  not  get  it  away 
from  him.  His  three  companions  with  those 
hard  names,  Shadrach,  Meshach  and  Abednego, 
had  this  pearl  of  salvation,  and  even  in  the  fur- 
nace of  fire  it  was  not  destroyed  or  taken  from 
them.  If  you  have  this  pearl  of  salvation,  you 
can  keep  it  in  spite  of  all  the  wicked  people  in 


234  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

the  world ;  you  can  hide  it  away  in  your  heart, 
and  all  the  armies  of  the  world  cannot  take  it 
away  from  you.  In  sickness  or  in  health  it 
will  be  yours,  and  even  death  itself  can  not 
rob  you  of  it.  It  will  stay  with  you  in  this 
world,  and  it  will  be  your  joy  and  gladness  in 
the  world  to  come. 

As  the  merchantman  went  out  seeking  the 
most  valuable  pearl,  so  all  the  world  is  to-day 
seeking  for  something  which  will  satisfy  and 
render  their  owners  happy.  There  are  many  good 
things  in  this  world,  but  none  of  them  can  make 
any  one  contented  and  happy,  like  the  salvation 
which  Jesus  gives  when  we  repent  of  our  sins 
and  in  faith  accept  of  Him  as  our  Saviour.  Be- 
fore you  get,  or  even  desire  any  other  pearl,  I 
want  each  of  you  to  accept  of  this  ''Pearl  of 
great  price,"  which  Jesus  offers  you. 


FROGS. 


THE   PLAGUES    IN   EGYPT. 


My  dear  young  friends  :  I  am  sure  you  will 
all  be  able  to  tell  me  what  this  object  is  which 
I  hold  in  my  hand  (voices:  "  frogs,  bullfrogs"). 
Well,  it  looks  exactly  like  a  bullfrog,  and  was 
made  to  imitate  a  bullfrog.  These  bullfrogs  are 
made  of  paper,  and  were  made  in  Japan.  I  bought 
these  frogs  that  I  might  show  them  to  you  and 
preach  you  an  object  sermon  on  the  subject  of 
the  "  Ten  Plagues  in  Egypt." 

You  all  remember  how  Joseph  was  sold  by 
his  brethren  into  bondage  in  Egypt,  how  he 
was  cast  into  prison  and  afterward  taken  out 
and  made  prime  minister  over  all  that  land,  how 
during  the  seven  years  of  plenty  he  laid  up  corn 
for  the  seven  years  of  famine  which  followed,  and 
afterward  his  father  and  his  brethren,  in  all 
seventy  persons  who  constituted  Jacob's  family, 


Objects  used :  Some  paper  frogs  which  can  be  purchased  at 
any  Japanese  store  for  five  cents  each.  They  can  also  often  be 
had  at  toy  stores.  A  live  frog  in  a  covered  aquarium  would 
serve  even  better. 

235 


236  OBJECT  SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

came  down  into  Egypt  to  be  fed.  After  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  this  family  had  increased 
until  they  numbered  nearly  two  millions  of  people. 
Pharaoh  had  made  slaves  of  them,  and  compelled 
them  to  work  in  the  brickyards  of  Egypt,  and 
the  task-masters  were  very  cruel  to  them  ;  they 
beat  them  with  cruel  whips,  and  demanded  ex- 
cessive labor  from  them.  These  people  were 
the  chosen  people  of  God,  and  their  voice  was 
lifted  to  God  their  Father  for  deliverance  from 
all  the  wrongs  which  they  suffered.  God  heard 
their  prayer,  and  raised  up  Moses  to  deliver  them 
out  of  Egyptian  bondage. 

When  Moses  and  Aaron  went  to  Pharaoh  to 
request  him  to  let  the  Children  of  Israel  go  from 
Egypt  to  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  God  had 
promised  to  Abraham  and  to  his  seed  after  him, 
Pharaoh  would  not  consent  to  let  them  go.  He 
was  a  proud,  wicked  king,  and  God  sent  ten 
great  plagues  upon  him  and  his  country,  to 
humble  him  and  cause  him  to  do  as  God  desired 
that  he  should  do. 

In  the  first  plague  the  rivers  were  turned  to 
blood.  This  plague  lasted  seven  days,  and  at 
the  end  of  that  time  Moses  stretched  forth  his 
rod,  and  all  the  rivers  and  ponds  and  lakes  of 
water  brought  forth  great  frogs  like  these  through- 
out all  the  land.     They  came   not  by  hundreds, 


THE  PLAGUES  OF  EGYPT.         23/ 

but  by  thousands  and  millions,  until  they  cov- 
ered all  that  land.  They  were  in  the  houses  of 
all  the  people.  The  king's  servants  were  busy 
sweeping  and  carrying  them  out  of  the  palace, 
and  yet  they  stole  into  the  rooms,  and  at  night 
when  the  king  would  go  to  lie  down  he  would 
find  these  frogs  in  his  bed-chamber  and  upon  his 
bed;  and  when  his  bakers  went  to  make  bread 
for  the  king  they  would  find  them  in  the  bread- 
troughs  in  which  they  kneaded  or  mixed  the 
bread,  and  in  the  ovens  where  they  baked  the 
bread,  and  everywhere  in  the  palace  and  in  the 
huts  of  the  common  people,  upon  the  streets  and 
in  the  roads,  wherever  the  people  stepped  they 
tramped  upon  them,  and  the  king's  carriage 
could  not  be  driven  through  the  streets  without 
crushing  thousands  of  them.  The  plague  was  so 
great  that  Pharaoh  sent  for  Moses  and  Aaron, 
and  entreated  them  to  call  upon  their  God  that 
He  would  remove  the  frogs;  and  when  God 
heard  the  prayer  of  Moses  and  Aaron  the  frogs 
died,  and  the  people  gathered  them  up  in  great 
heaps,  and  the  water  of  the  river  sent  up  a  great 
stench,  and  these  dead  and  putrifying  frogs  in 
the  streets  caused  the  air  to  be  loaded  with  a 
a  great  stench  that  filled  the  nostrils  of  all  the 
people. 

After  this  plague  of  frogs   came  the  plague  of 


2^8  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

lice,  when  all  the  dust  of  the  country  was  turned 
into  lice,  and  after  that  the  plague  of  the  flies, 
and  so  on  through  to  the  last  plague,  which  was 
the  slaying  of  the  first-born,  of  which  I  will  tell 
you  in  another  sermon. 

When  you  go  home,  I  wish  you  would  turn  to 
the  second  book  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  Book 
of  Exodus,  and  in  the  early  chapters  read  about 
these  various  plagues  of  Egypt.  When  you  read 
the  account  of  the  various  plagues,  you  will  see 
how  after  each  affliction  Pharaoh's  heart  seemed 
to  relent.  He  would  consent  for  a  time  that  the 
Children  of  Israel  might  be  liberated  from  their 
bondage  and  depart  from  Egypt  and  start  on 
their  journey  to  the  land  of  Canaan.  When  he 
was  in  affliction  he  would  make  good  promises, 
but  as  soon  as  God  had  removed  the  plague,  and 
the  sorrow  of  his  people  seemed  to  be  ended  for 
an  hour  or  two,  he  hardened  his  heart  against 
God,  and  refused  to  do  what  he  had  promised 
to  do.  Each  time  he  refused  to  do  that  which 
he  had  agreed,  and  caused  that  the  Children  of 
Israel  should  continue  in  their  bondage. 

We  may  think  that  we  are  not  wicked  like 
Pharaoh  was.  We  may  not  be  wicked  in  the 
same  degree,  but  we  are  wicked  after  the  same 
nature  and  kind,  and  so  God  brings  upon  us 
various  providences,  some  of  which  are  not  very 


THE  PLAGUES  OF  EGYPT.         239 

pleasant.  He  is  seeking  to  educate  us  by  the 
trials  and  sorrows  and  disappointments  and  afflic- 
tions which  He  permits  to  come  upon  us,  so  that 
we  will  be  more  obedient,  and  more  faithful,  and 
more  Christlike.  But  I  suppose  you  have  seen 
people  who  were  just  like  Pharaoh.  When  they 
were  sick  they  would  promise  to  become  Chris- 
tians, and  live  good  and  right  lives,  and  join  the 
Church  and  be  faithful  followers  of  Christ  all  the 
rest  of  their  lives,  and  yet  when  God  would  raise 
them  up  from  their  bed  of  sickness  they  would 
forget  all  their  promises,  and  generally,  as  it 
always  was  in  the  case  of  Pharaoh,  their  hearts 
became  harder  and  harder,  and  instead  of  being 
better  after  God  had  raised  them  up  and  'made 
them  strong  and  well,  or  removed  some  trial  or 
affliction,  they  became  worse  than  before. 

Have  you  not  found  something  of  this  also  in 
your  own  experience?  When  you  have  desired 
something  which  you  have  asked  your  father  or 
mother  to  secure  for  you,  you  have  promised 
that  you  would  run  on  all  the  errands  they  asked, 
or  that  you  would  go  to  school  and  study  your 
lessons  very  faithfully,  or  that  you  would  go  to 
bed  cheerfully  at  night  without  complaining,  or 
made  them  some  other  promises ;  and  yet,  after 
you  have  received  the  object  you  asked  for,  you 
have  failed  to  keep  your  promise. 


240  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

Or,  go  a  step  further,  has  it  not  been  so  with 
what  you  have  promised  God  that  you  would  do  ? 
You  may  have  entered  into  covenant  with  Him, 
made  certain  promises,  and  then  afterward  forgot 
to  fulfill  those  promises.  Let  us  always  remem- 
ber when  we  make  promises  to  God,  or  to  our 
parents,  that  we  are  not  to  be  like  Pharaoh. 
After  God  has  answered  our  prayers  we  should 
not  forget  to  be  obedient  to  Him  and  to  keep 
our  promises. 

Pharaoh  was  a  great  covenant-breaker,  but 
when  at  last  he  gave  the  Children  of  Israel  per- 
mission to  leave  Egypt,  and  then  broke  his  pro- 
mise and  followed  them  with  his  army  that  he 
might  destroy  them,  God  opened  up  the  waters 
of  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Children  of  Israel  fled 
from  before  Pharaoh,  and  when  this  wicked  king 
and  covenant-breaker  saw  them,  he  pursued  after 
them  with  his  horses,  his  chariots  and  his  army, 
and  when  they  were  all  in  the  midst  of  the  sea, 
God  took  away  His  restraining  power  from  the 
water  which  stood  piled  up  on  both  sides  of  the 
way  along  which  the  Children  of  Israel  had 
marched  safely,  and  the  water  came  down  in 
great  torrents  and  buried  this  wicked  king  and 
all  his  horses  and  his  chariots  and  his  men.  So 
God  destroyed  this  great  covenant-breaking  king, 
because  after  all  of  His  judgments  and  wonderful 


THE   PLAGUES    OF   EGYPT.  24 1 

miracles  which  He  had  wrought  before  Pharaoh, 
in  order  to  teach  him  that  Jehovah  was  God, 
Pharaoh's  repentances  were  all  a  mere  sham. 

This  was  a  great  object  sermon  which  God  did 
before  the  eyes  of  all  these  thousands  of  the  Chil- 
dren of  Israel,  and  should  teach  you  and  me  that 
we  are  to  be  honest  in  all  our  covenants  with 
God,  and  be  obedient  to  the  will  of  God  in  all 
that  we  do  and  say. 


BLOOD. 

the  feast  of  the  passover. 

Children  of  the  covenant-keeping  king: 
Last  Sunday  I  talked  to  you  about  Pharaoh,  as 
the  great  covenant-breaking  king.  I  showed  you 
the  frogs,  and  told  you  how  after  all  God's  long- 
suffering  with  Pharaoh,  He  eventually  destroyed 
him  and  his  army  in  the  midst  of  the  Red  Sea. 

Now,  to-day,  I  have  this  bottle,  which  has  this 
deep  red  colored  fluid  in  it.  This  is  red  ink. 
But  I  have  brought  it  not  to  talk  to  you  about 
ink,  but  to  talk  you  about  that  which  is  the  same 
color,  namely  of  blood. 

You  remember  how  there  were  ten  plagues  in 
Egypt,  the  first  was  the  turning  of  the  rivers  into 
blood,  then  the  bringing  up  of  the  frogs  from  all 
the  rivers  and  lakes,  and  then  the  turning  of  the 
dust  into  lice,  and  then  the  plague  of  the  flies, 
and  then  of  the  murrain  which  destroyed  the  cattle, 
and  of  the  boils  which  came  upon  all  the  people, 
and  of  the  lightning,  and  rain,  and  hail  which 
destroyed  man  and  beast,  then  the  locusts  which 


Object  used :    A  bottle  of  red  ink  to  represent  blood. 
242 


THE   FEAST   OF  THE   PASSOVER.  243 

came  and  ate  up  everything  that  remained,  after- 
ward the  three  days  of  continuous  darkness,  and 
after  these  nine  plagues  God  had  yet  in  store 
one  great  plague  which  he  purposed  to  bring 
upon  Pharaoh  and  his  people.  After  each  of 
these  plagues  which  I  have  named,  Pharaoh 
promised  that  he  would  let  the  Children  of  Israel 
go,  but  then  hardened  his  heart,  and  refused  to 
keep  his  promise.  At  last  God  was  going  to 
bring  upon  him  and  his  people  the  greatest  plague 
of  all.     (Ex.  12:  1-28.) 

God  told  Moses  and  Aaron  to  command  the 
Children  of  Israel  that  on  the  tenth  day  of  the 
month  each  family  should  select  a  lamb  or  a  kid, 
and  shut  it  up  until  the  fourteenth  day,  and  that 
in  the  evening  of  that  day  they  should  kill  it. 
This  was  to  be  a  male  lamb,  one  year  old,  and 
without  spot  or  blemish.  The  blood,  as  it  flowed 
from  the  neck  of  the  lamb,  was  to  be  caught  in  a 
dish,  and  with  a  bunch  of  hyssop  was  to  be 
sprinkled  upon  the  door-posts  or  the  door  frame, 
both  above  and  around  the  door,  so  that  the 
Angel  of  Death  which  God  purposed  to  send 
upon  that  eventful  night,  when  he  should  pass 
throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt  and  see  the 
blood  upon  the  door-posts  and  upon  the  lintel 
over  the  door,  he  would  pass  by  or  "  pass-over  " 
these  houses  of  the  Israelites  and  would  not  smite 


244  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

their  first-born  with  death,  as  would  be  the  case 
in  every  home  of  the  Egyptians  throughout  all 
that  land. 

After  they  had  sprinkled  the  blood  upon  the 
door-posts,  they  were  to  roast  the  entire  lamb, 
and  they  were  to  eat  it  with  unleavened  bread, 
which  was  bread  baked  without  yeast,  and  eat  it 
also  with  bitter  herbs,  while  at  the  same  time 
their  long,  loose  garments  were  to  be  tucked  up 
in  their  belts  which  went  around  their  waists,  or 
as  the  people  in  those  days  would  have  said,  with 
their  loins  girded.  They  were  to  have  their 
shoes  on  their  feet,  and  a  cane  or  staff  in  their 
hand,  so  as  to  be  all  ready  to  start  out  upon  their 
journey  at  any  moment. 

At  midnight,  after  these  Israelites  had  eaten 
this  "Passover"  meal,  and  had  also  destroyed, 
by  burning,  any  portions  of  the  lamb  which 
might  remain,  the  Angel  of  Death  passed  through 
all  the  land  of  Egypt  and  slew  the  first-born,  the 
oldest  in  every  house,  where  there  was  no  blood 
sprinkled  upon  the  door-posts. 

As  soon  as  the  angel  had  passed  by,  the 
people  rushed  out  into  the  streets  in  terror  and 
alarm,  for  in  every  home  there  was  one  or  two  or 
more  persons  lying  dead.  The  Egyptians 
brought  out  their  jewels  and  gold  and  valuables, 
and  offered,  not  only  to  let  the  Israelites  retain 


THE  FEAST  OF  THE  PASSOVER.       245 

the  jewels  which  they  had  already  borrowed,  but 
to  give  them  more  if  they  would  only  depart  im- 
mediately, so  that  God  should  bring  no  further 
afflictions  upon  them.  Pharaoh  consented,  and 
immediately  the  Children  of  Israel  started  on 
their  long  journey  to  the  Promised  Land. 

This  eventful  night  was  called,  and  is  to  this 
day  called,  ^'the  night  of  the  Passover,"  and  to 
this  day  the  Jewish  people  celebrate  the  Feast  of 
the  Passover.  It  occurs  in  the  spring  of  the 
year,  and  corresponds  very  closely  to  our  Church 
festival  day,  known  as  Good  Friday,  at  which 
time  we  commemorate  the  crucifixion  and  death 
of  Jesus  Christ  upon  Calvary. 

You  will  see  from  what  I  have  said  how  the 
lamb  which  was  chosen  was  a  figure  of  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Lamb  of  God,  slain  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world  to  take  away  your  sins,  and  my 
sins,  and  the  sins  of  all  who  would  believe  upon 
Him.  As  this  passover  lamb  was  of  a  year  old, 
without  spot  and  without  blemish,  so  Jesus 
Christ  was  perfect,  without  blemish.  He  never 
committed  a  sin  of  any  kind;  He  was  but  thirty 
years  old  when  He  was  crucified,  and  consequently 
was  young  in  years. 

As  the  blood  sprinkled  upon  the  door-posts 
and  the  lintels  of  the  doors  was  the  sign  by 
which  the  Angel  of  the   Lord  was  to  know  the 


246  OBJECT  SERMONS  TO   CHILDREN. 

homes  of  the  Israelites  and  deliver  their  first- 
born from  death,  so  the  blood  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  cleanses  us  from  all  sin  and  delivers  us 
from  eternal  death. 

You  and  I  and  all  mankind  must  die,  but  after 
this  death  of  the  body  there  comes  everlasting 
Hfe  or  spiritual  death.  Now,  when  the  spirit 
leaves  the  body,  or  is  separated  from  these  bodies, 
we  speak  of  it  as  dead.  The  death  of  a  person 
is  just  the  same  as  when  wheat  is  sown  into  ground 
and  is  said  to  die,  while,  however,  the  life  that 
there  was  in  the  seed  only  springs  up  Into  the 
stalk  and  grows  into  a  new  life  and  into  a  muiti- 
plied  fruitfulness. 

The  life  of  each  grain  of  wheat  does  not  cease 
to  exist,  but  is  simply  separated  from  the  seed  or 
grain  which  was  sown  in  the  ground,  and  lives  in 
the  new  plant  and  new  grain  which  springs  up. 
So  also  when  the  hfe  or  the  soul  leaves  the  body, 
the  body  is  dead,  because  it  is  separated  from  the 
soul.  In  like  manner  also,  if  the  soul  is  sepa- 
rated from  God,  the  Bible  speaks  of  the  individual 
as  being  spiritually  dead,  even  while  yet  hving  in 
this  world.  Now,  if  because  of  sin  my  soul 
should  be  banished  forever  from  God's  presence, 
and  be  eternally  separated  from  God  in  the  next 
world,  that  eternal  separation  of  the  soul  from 
God  is  spoken  of  in  the  Bible  as  eternal  death. 


THE  FEAST  OF  THE  PASSOVER.       24/ 

From  this  eternal  death  you  and  I  can  only  be 
delivered  by  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God.  Jesus 
Christ  is  our  Passover  Lamb.  Neither  is  He  a 
dead,  but  a  living  Savior. 

"  He  ever  lives  above, 

For  me  to  intercede ; 
His  all-redeeming  love, 

His  precious  blood  to  plead ; 
His  blood  atoned  for  all  our  race, 
And  sprinkles  now  the  throne  of  grac^.** 


THE  FEAST  OF  TABERNACLES. 

Dear  young  Christians:  Last  Sunday  I  told 
you  about  the  Feast  of  the  Passover,  how  it  came 
to  be  instituted,  and  what  it  signified.  To-day  I 
want  to  talk  to  you  about  the  Feast  of  Taber- 
nacles. The  Feast  of  the  Passover  occurred  in 
the  spring,  nearly  corresponding  to  our  Easter, 
and  at  such  times  when  the  Israelites  from  every 
every  quarter  of  the  land  came  up  to  Jerusalem, 
as  was  the  custom  at  the  three  annual  feasts, 
some  provision  had  to  be  made  for  their  enter- 
tainment. 

At  the  Feast  of  the  Passover  every  family  liv- 
ing in  Jerusalem  had  to  throw  open  their  home, 
and  entertain  under  the  cover  of  their  own  roof, 
all  who  came  to  them.  They  could  not  decline 
to  receive  the  thousands  of  worshippers  who  came 
up  to  the  Feast,  but  were  required  to  afford  them 
a  place  of  shelter  in  their  homes.  Therefore  it 
was  that  before  the  Feast  of  the  Passover  Jesus 
sent  two  of  His  disciples,  and  told  them  to  go 
into  the  city,  and  they  would  find  a  man  bearing 


Objects  used :  A  green  branch  of  a  tree,  and  a  glass  of  clear 
water. 

248 


THE   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES.  249 

a  pitcher  of  water ;  they  should  follow  him  and 
ask  him  to  direct  them  to  a  room  in  his  house, 
where  Jesus  might  eat  the  Passover  with  His 
disciples.     (Matt.  26:   17;  Mark  14:   13.) 

At  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  which  occurred 
in  the  fall  of  the  year,  after  the  harvest  and  the 
fruit  of  the  vines  and  the  trees  had  all  been  gath- 
ered in,  it  was  very  different.  At  this  Feast, 
when  the  Israelites  came  up  to  Jerusalem,  not 
only  those  who  came  from  a  distance,  but  even 
those  who  lived  regularly  in  the  city,  were  re- 
quired to  tent  or  live  in  booths  made  by  simply 
placing  some  poles  in  the  ground,  with  other 
poles  reaching  across  the  top,  so  as  to  form  a 
roof  or  covering.  This  roof  was  not  shingled, 
but  was  formed  by  laying  branches  of  trees  upon 
the  sticks  which  had  been  laid  across  from  one 
pole  to  the  other.     (Neh.  8:  14,  15.) 

You  now  see  why  this  morning  I  have  chosen 
this  branch  of  a  tree  to  show  you  in  connection 
with  this  sermon.  I  have  chosen  this  to  impress 
upon  your  mind  the  character  of  the  arbors  used 
at  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  the  tops  of  which 
were  formed  or  made  of  olive,  and  willow  and 
pine,  myrtle  and  palm  branches.  These  booths 
or  arbors  were  to  remind  the  Children  of  Israel 
of  the  journey  of  their  forefathers  through  the 
Desert,  when  for  forty  long  years  they  did  not 


250  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

live  within  the  walls  or  under  the  roof  of  any 
house,  but  dwelt  only  in  booths. 

I  am  sure  you  and  I  would  like  to  have  looked 
in  upon  Jerusalem  at  the  time  when  one  of  these 
Harvest  Home  festivals  was  being  celebrated. 
We  would  hke  to  have  seen  the  booths  on  the 
tops  of  the  houses  and  along  the  side  of  the  hills, 
outside  of  the  walls  of  the  city,  sloping  down 
through  the  valleys  and  crowding  far  out  into  the 
country  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives  and  beyond. 
We  would  like  to  have  seen  the  bright  faces  of 
the  happy  throngs  of  people  as  they  moved  in 
procession  through  the  streets,  waving  their  palm 
branches,  and  to  have  listened  to  the  music  of  the 
trumpeters  of  the  Temple,  as  they  sounded  their 
trumpets  twice  every  hour,  throughout  the  entire 
day.  I  am  sure  we  would  have  been  delighted 
to  have  looked  down  upon  the  festive  crowd  at 
night,  when  instead  of  waving  palm  branches,  as 
they  did  during  the  day,  they  carried  bright 
flaming  torches,  amid  the  clashing  of  cymbals 
and  the  blast  of  trumpets. 

This  Feast  lasted  for  eight  days.  The  first  day 
and  the  last  were  specially  sacred.  And  now  I 
want  to  call  your  attention  to  this  second  object 
which  I  have,  namely  this  water,  and  I  want  to 
tell  you  how  it  was  related  to  and  used  at  this 
Feast  of  Tabernacles.     On  the  morning  of  each 


THE   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES. 


251 


day,  while  the  smoke  of  the  morning  sacrifice 
was  ascending  in  beautiful  wreaths  in  the  still 
air,  a  priest  bearing  a  large  golden  bowl  and 
followed  by  a  long  procession  of  boys  and  girls, 
waving  palm  branches,  descended  the  side  of  the 
hill,  to  the  pool  of  Siloam,  which  was  in  a  quiet 
recess  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Moriah,  on  the  sum- 
mit of  which  the  Temple  was  built.  When  he  had 
filled  the  golden  bowl  with  water  from  this  clear 
pool,  he  held  it  above  his  head  and  bore  it  aloft 
as  he  ascended  the  stairs ;  and  as  the  procession 
entered  the  Court  of  the  Temple,  the  trumpets 
sounded,  and  all  the  throngs  of  people  gathered 
within  its  walls  took  up  the  words  of  the 
prophet  and  sang,  "  With  joy  shall  ye  draw  water 
out  of  the  wells  of  salvation  "  (Isaiah  12  :  3),  and 
as  the  priest  came  to  the  base  of  the  altar  he 
poured  the  water  from  the  golden  bowl  into  a 
silver  basin  amid  shouts  and  gladness.  Upon 
the  eighth  day,  "  the  last  day,  that  great  day  of 
the  feast "  (John  7  :  37),  the  joy  was  greater  than 
upon  any  of  the  other  days.  The  priests  in  glad 
procession  moved  around  the  altar  seven  times 
singing  their  Psalms. 

It  was  at  the  last  Feast  of  Tabernacles  which 
Jesus  attended,  that  He  stood  in  the  midst  of  this 
glad  assembly,  and  beheld  their  joy  as  they  re- 
membered how  God  had  supplied  their  fathers 


252  OBJECT   SERMONS   TO    CHILDREN. 

with  water  in  the  wilderness,  and  how  He  had 
given  them  a  land  of  streams,  and  rivers,  and 
wells  of  water,  and  it  was  then  when  Jesus  heard 
them  crying,  **  Hosanna,  blessed  is  He  that 
Cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  that  Jesus 
stood  up  in  the  midst  of  the  Temple  and  of  the 
people  and  said,  ''If  any  manthirst,  let  him  come 
unto  me  and  drink."  (John  7  :  37.)  To  those 
of  us  who  have  always  lived  in  the  midst  of  a 
bountiful  supply  of  fresh,  clear,  crystal  water,  these 
words  are  not  as  impressive  as  they  were  to  the 
people  to  whom  they  were  spoken.  For  their 
land  was  surrounded  by  deserts,  and  they  lived 
in  the  midst  of  nations  whose  people  often  fam- 
ished and  died,  because  there  was  not  a  sufficient 
supply  of  water  to  drink. 

While  we  live  in  a  country  where  there  is 
always  an  abundant  supply  of  water  to  satisf}^ 
the  thirst  of  the  body,  yet  spiritually,  like  these 
people  at  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  we  have  the 
same  spiritual  needs  that  they  had,  and  if  you 
and  I  thirst  for  the  water  of  life,  if  we  desire  ever- 
lasting salvation,  if  we  thirst  for  the  knowledge 
of  sacred  things  and  desire  to  do  that  which  is 
right,  Jesus  invites  you  and  me  to  come  to  Him, 
and  says  to  us :  "  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth, 
come  ye  to  the  waters."  (Isa.  55:1.)  "If  any 
man  thirst  let  him  come  unto  me  and   drink." 


THE   FEAST   OF   TABERNACLES.  2$$ 

(John  7:  37.)  ''Whosoever  drinketh  of  the 
water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst; 
but  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  be  in 
him  a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  everlasting 
life."     (John  4:   14.) 

THE  END. 


Date  Due 

Jl  5     '3J 

S     1Q     OJ 

i 

' 

^ 

